Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured
by jaymelynn143
Summary: It's the start of Senior year. Veronica and Logan must travel through the pitfalls of mistakes. They both question if married life is all that it's cracked up to be. Duncan has issues that is tearing friends apart, will they be able survive all of it. *Sequel to Promises***
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is a sequel to Promises, Escapes & LoVe. I am just toying with the concept. I hope you all like it.

Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured

Chapter 1: Senior Year

**Veronica**

"I was hoping it would be you," the person on the other side says half drunk as they fall forward. Logan helps steady them as Leo makes an appearance. This hasn't turned out to be the best night or should I say morning.

"I'll call the Sheriff," Leo says as I walk behind Logan and him.

"What the hell happened?" Logan asks as I grab a bottle of water for Duncan.

"I was driving toward the Sheriff's station and I was stopped by the PCH bikers," Duncan says as I see Leo coming back with the first aid kit.

"Why did they stop you?" I ask as I pull out some wipes to clean his face.

"They just started yelling about how I murdered Lilly and I was going to pay for it. One of them said he heard it was the brother on the radio that killed Lilly," Duncan cries as I look toward Logan.

"Duncan," I was about to reassure him when there was another knock on the door.

"You can't just barge in here," Leo was saying as Lamb and Sacks both walked into our home like they owned the place.

"We are here for Duncan Kane," Lamb snaps as he shoves a sheet of paper into Logan's face.

"Are you serious?" I half snap and question at the same time.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Duncan is wanted in connection with the murder of Felix Toombs," Lamb sneers at me as I watch helplessly as he cuffs Duncan and walks him toward the door, but not before shoving him roughly into the railing of the stairs making him wince.

"Don't say a word Duncan. I'll call your mom," Logan says as I reach for him. He pulls me to his side as we watch Duncan being lead away.

It seemed like things just got worse from there. Duncan was charged with Felix's murder, and both his parents went to Napa to get away from the media. When Duncan was released from jail he moved into the Grand. The media that surrounded him was hard to stand, but Logan and I wanted t be there for our friend.

Duncan though broke up with Meg out of the blue, and wanted nothing to do with Logan. I tried to be there for him even though he was turning on all of his friends, but had to draw the line one night when he scared me.

**Flashback**

_Logan had gone out to the beach behind our home with dick to surf and I was left alone with Duncan. We were sitting on the couch talking when things changed._

"_I kept thinking that if we just stuck by you, that you'd get past this-this phase and you'd be you again," I say as he looks hard at me with an expression I couldn't quite depict._

"_What are you talking about?" he half snaps at me getting agitated with the situation._

"_I can't stand by you. Not with you and those kids who are refusing to let everything get back to normal. Someone's gonna get killed, Duncan. You won't talk to Logan or Dick anymore. Logan tries hard to get you to hang out with us, but you refuse," I say emotionally as I look toward the beach._

"_If you haven't forgotten Veronica s__omeone already has, did you forget that already? And most of the people in this town think I did it," he says louder as he shifts to sit on the arm of the couch instead of being seated next to me. He is becoming increasingly more agitated and emotional._

"_The people you are talking about are my friends; __they've got my back," he yells at me._

"_It's not about protection, Duncan. It's about pride. Duncan you have more friends than you think, but you are pushing the people who really care about away," I say urgently as I try to calm him down. Duncan puts his hand up to his forehead, as if the words I am saying are lies._

"_And, the thing that I can't stand or get over is that…I'm pretty sure there's a part of you that's having fun with all of this," I stutter slightly as I say the words out loud._

"_Fun? Fun?" he snaps at me totally standing as he begins to pace like what I am saying is lies. He stops walking and turns around angrily, as he grabs a lamp that was beside the couch tossing it across the room as it slammed into the wall shattering. I jump frightened as he hovers above me._

"_My parents have abandoned me, my friends aren't my friends, my best friends' dad murdered my sister and the one person I love with all my heart is shattering me with her words. You think I am having fun?" he shouts angrily at me. Logan __storms in, while Duncan doesn't notice, "__Answer me, okay? Just tell me the-," he is still yelling as Logan grabs him from behind. Logan locks his arm above his head as he pushes him into the wall holding him there. I am having a hard time catching my breath, as I watch unhappy as the scene unfolds before me._

"_You don't talk to Veronica that way. You're leaving now and you're never coming back," he says as Leo moves closer to the guys. I turn my head and take a deep breath as I drop my head in frustration. I had really hoped to get through to him_.

***End***

I haven't been alone with Duncan since then. I actually haven't really seen much of him. Dick told Logan that Duncan had been spending a little more time over at his house with his younger brother. It bothered me that Duncan closed us out, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having a life.

"I can't believe school starts tomorrow," Dick mutters as he splashes water at Mac who falls backwards in the pool.

"I don't want summer to end," Meg says as she rubs her back. Meg had confided in me that she was pregnant, but wasn't sure what to do just yet. She knew it was Duncan's but when he broke up with her; she began staying over more.

"I know the feeling. Our dad says we have to attend classes," Logan says as he looks over at me. I had to laugh at his words because the moment his dad was arraigned and arrested for Lilly's murder my dad officially adopted him. I know that sounded strange seeing that we were married, but Logan wanted that.

"Papa Mars is a tough cookie to crack," Wallace chimes in as my dad pokes his head out the back door.

"Do I hear children who are not mine commenting on my parental practices?" he says as he walks out onto the deck.

"It was Wallace, Dad," Logan says as I laugh when Wallace splashes him.

"Have I not taught you kids not to turn on each other? I mustn't be doing a good job at that," he mutters as he looks toward me.

"I think you're doing a great job," I say as I give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks daughter of my loins," he says smiling at me. "How are you feeling today Meg," he asks as she gives him a thumbs up. We spend the rest of the day just hanging out in the back yard enjoying the sun.

I was approached the first thing by one of the basketball students Kelvin about helping him clear his name. It seems he didn't pass his drug test. I was going to pass up the case, until I learned that Wallace hadn't passed his either. I knew for a fact Wallace didn't do drugs so of course I took the case. Logan laughed as I dug up all the dirt I needed to throw the book at the real druggies.

I was excited as the first week flew by pretty fast. I solved my case, and made a few new enemies in the process. Logan and I both had Journalism again this year, and we were going to Shark Stadium for a field trip. I wasn't going to go, but then I thought about it. I would get out of school for the day. I was waiting in front of the school bus for Logan.

"Ah, young love," Duncan say as Logan takes my hand in his. I turn back to look at him. Duncan is leaning up against the bus, watching us. We walk toward him slowly.

"You're coming on the field trip? I figured you and the other Jets would be rumbling with the Sharks," Logan says as I move closer to him.

"Cool it, Action. I think I'm gonna pass on the field trip, but ah, call me when you get home, and tell me all about it," Duncan smirks at me as I turn back to Logan.

"Let's just get on the bus," I say as I pull him closer keeping him away from Duncan.

"Hey, wait. I'm gonna miss you.," Duncan says smirking evilly as Logan and I hurry past him. I look out the window as we find a seat and watch as Duncan drops his head as he walks away from the bus. He glances back toward us as my eyes lock onto his, he waves at me.

"Excuse me," the new girl Gia says as she tries to get past us.

"Sorry," I mutter softly as Logan and I walk further up the aisle to find seats. Logan sits down and pulls me in toward him as Dick sits behind us. Meg sits in the seat in front of us. Logan is holding my hand as we all are talking; he gives me an understanding look and kisses me on the forehead.

"Miss Dumbass," Dick calls out as she turns toward us.

"It's "Dumazz," Dick," she says with an all too happy voice. I knew Dick was just playing around with her, but sometimes he took things a little too far.

"Well, my name's pronounced "Re-shard" and it stinks back here. I think someone died," he mutters as I lean into Logan who shakes his head at his friend. Dick was more than that, but when he acted like a 'dick' that was what he was a friend. Yet, when he acted like the caring older bro he was that.

"You're free to sit closer to the front," she says waving her hand toward the front of the bus. He looks at the people sitting up there and just sits back down.

"That's okay. I don't think that's gonna help. Thanks anyway," he says as Logan gives him a smirk. Of course they were 09ers and the students in the front weren't. It wouldn't be correct to be seated with someone outside of your social class. I watch as Dick looks over at the other side of the bus where the girl who passed by us earlier was seated. She gave Dick a small wave and a smile.

"Hey, who's the lovely young flower blossoming into womanhood?" Dick asks Logan as I try to keep my laughter to myself as Meg looks back to see who he was talking about.

"Let me guess: you want to pluck her," he asks as Dick nods his head happily. I am amused by what those two can talk about as I shake my head. I move up a seat to sit with Meg as I play with my bag. She smiles at me as we watch the scenery past by.

Once we got to the stadium we were all escorted to a waiting area in the box seats where Mr. Goodman was waiting for us. I noticed that Beaver got real weird when he saw him, but didn't think anything of it. I pulled out my phone to see if my dad had called or texted me before sitting down beside of Logan.

Woody Goodman talked for a while about what his plans were, and he introduced his daughter to us. She seemed a little off to me, but Dick was just grinning widely as she sat back down next to him. I was amazed that Dick hadn't become a dad yet, with as much time he messed around. Once Woody was done talking we were free to mingle and eat. Logan and I were helping ourselves to food from a buffet.

"It's like, you know, what Willie Wonka would be like if he owned a professional baseball team," Logan says as Meg chuckles at his comment. I just look over at a display of Woody's Little League pictures and trophies. I see there is a signed bat at the centre of the display.

"You never played Little League?" I asked as Meg laughs even harder than Logan does when he chocks on his bite.

"Oh, well, no Mom was afraid a ball would hit me in the face. Aaron was afraid it would interfere with his interactions, and I was afraid I couldn't hit a curveball," he says as I shudder at the mention of Aaron. I knew the reality of it was Aaron didn't want anyone to know more they should have about Logan, especially when he beat him so much back then.

"I'm afraid you're gonna get love handles if you eat all that," I say as I pinch his side to check.

"I have an excellent metabolism. I would be more worried if it were you eating all of this," he jokes with me as Meg pulls a cheese stick off of his plate.

"Well then, it's official. I hate you," she mutters as I laugh. Meg was being very serious, more so since she was now eating for two. Logan laughs, as I spot movement out the window.

"Oh, check it out," I say as we look through the balcony and see Woody and another man argue. I looked closer at the man noticing it was Terrence Cook. I didn't know he played for this team.

"You did this to me," he yells at Woody.

"What?" Woody says a little taken back by what was being said. I watch as Logan recognizes the man as well.

"Wow. Terrence Cook in the flesh," he says looking from me to the legend.

"It's alright. Come on, I'll introduce you," he says happily as if it was the most natural thing pulling the man into the room.

"Hey, gang, special guest. The greatest Shark that ever played the game, back when we had pitching to go with our hitting, future hall-of-famer, Terrence Cook," he says shoving Mr. Cook into the room. We all begin to clap.

"They love you, man," he snaps before walking off leaving him in our midst. I see Dick coming over to us.

"Hey, we're not taking that stank-ass bus back to Neptune. My dad's sending a limo. Would you and your girlfriend, whose quick wit I find enchanting, like to take the trip back in style? Miss Dumbass said it was cool," Dick says looking over at me.

"Hell, yeah," Logan says quickly until he looks toward me. He is pleading with me using everything he had down to his big brown eyes.

"Fine," I say reluctantly as I turn to Meg.

"Cool," Dick says hitting Logan in the shoulder.

"I feel used and dirty," I finally say as Logan wraps an arm around me.

"Dirty, one R or two Rs?" he asks with a huge grin.

"Mmm," I say thinking of an answer to give him. He leans in and kisses me on the forehead ending my thoughts as he begins to eat from his plate. I watch as Dick approaches Meg on the balcony. It is obvious that he is asking Meg to come in the limo as well, but Meg, declines. Meg looks over at me and I give her a small smile.

"Logan I'm going to ride the bus with Meg, you know she doesn't feel right hanging out in a small space with, you know," I say as he gives me a look before laughing.

"Okay, but I will not sleep with you until you shower after being on that stinky bus," he says mockingly as I notice Terrence approach the buffet table. I turn to him with a huge grin.

"Excuse me, Mr. Cook?" I say as Logan nudges me.

"Yes ma'am," Terrence says as he puts some food on the plate.

"I just wanted to say…you are my dad's favorite baseball player ever. He keeps your rookie card vacuum-sealed inside a safe," I say as Logan laughs behind me. He knew full well that I was telling the truth my dad showed him the card.

"Well, that is an honor. You tell him "thanks" for me," he says as he shakes my hand. I stand shocked as I look back to Logan who now has an amused look on his face and his phone in his hand.

"When my dad finds out about this, he's not gonna let me wash this hand," I say as Logan takes a picture laughing as Meg comes up to us.

"So, who's your favorite player?" he asks as my mind goes blank for a moment.

"Ummm..." I stutter trying to think again. Meg is laughing at me as Logan smirks.

"Tell him and be honest Sugerpuss," Logan says smiling at me.

"It's Johnny Damon, isn't it?" he asks not shocked at all.

"He's so pretty," I say as Logan snorts out in laughter behind me holding onto his side as Meg elbows him.

"I got your back," she says giving me a grin. We both start laughing at Logan's expression. An hour or two later I watch as Logan and his pals all get into the limo while Meg and I get on the bus.

"I hear you can go back to cheerleading," I say laughing as Meg smiles. I knew why she failed her drug test, but the school didn't know the real reason.

"I know, but I think it would be hard to do a somersault trying to keep your balance with a huge tummy," she says smiling.

"Well you have all of us," I say as she turns to look out the window.

"I know, but I really thought Duncan was the one," she mumbles as I nod. Meg took it hard when Duncan broke up with her. She was mad at me for a long week because she knew it was because of me, but in the end she also knew I was happily married.

"I hope Duncan gets his head out of his butt and realizes what he's missing," I say as the bus pulls into a gas station.

"Five minutes people," Ms. Dumazz says holding up her hand.

"Do you need anything?" I ask. Meg shakes her water bottle at me as I lean back into my seat. I didn't need anything either. Our instructor was true to her word as we left right at five minutes.

"Whatcha doing," Logan says as I answer my phone. The bus is going around a bend.

"Sitting on a bus," I say as Meg laughs at my response. I can hear Belinda playing a recording of Dick up in the front of the bus with some of the kids.

"Is that Dick's voice?" Logan asks surprised.

"Yeah it seems he has a fan club here," I mutter laughing as I hear the guys in the limo singing. "It sounds like you guys are having fun as well," I comment.

"I wish you and Meg had come with us," he says softly as his words pull at my heart strings. I should have gone with him, but I also wanted to be there for Meg. Meg has been going through so much and needed some support.

"I know," I say as I see a flash of bright light and hear a loud banging noise as I reach for Meg pulling her close to me as the bus lurches to one side before flying in the air.

"Veronica," Meg gasps out as we are slammed forward when the bus hits the side of the rocky cliffs and then water floods in all around us.

"Hold on to me," I yell as I pull her close right as the water pulls the bus all the way in. I try to move, but have a hard time catching my breath as the water floods my mouth suffocating me before I see darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured

Chapter 2: Explosions & Life

**Duncan**

It pissed me off to see Veronica all wrapped up in Logan's arms. I mean did our year together mean nothing to her at all. We weren't siblings, we could finally be together, but oh no she was going to let something stupid like being married to Logan stop her from being with me.

I wasn't going to let that bastard stop me from being with my one true love. I mean Veronica knew me way before she even knew who he was. I was currently sitting at the Casablancas house waiting to see Dick and Cassidy. I hated calling him Beaver because it made him sound like a stupid animal.

"The boys aren't going to be back for a while," Kendal says seductively into my ear as I flip the switch on the TV off.

"I know, they went to some baseball stadium," I snap as I push her hand off of my shoulder.

"Well wouldn't you like to play a game with me," she murmurs into my neck as she settles herself onto my lap. I want to shove her off, but the thought of taking her is a little more overwhelming than the need to push her away. I missed Meg, but wouldn't cave on being with her when I had feelings for Veronica.

"No strings attached," I ask as I am grinding into her.

"No, it'll be our little secret," she says as she undoes her robe allowing it to pool around her waist. I was in breastville. She had the perkiest breast I have ever seen. I pinch one of the nipples as she swats at my hand. I am about to remove my shirt when our movement flicks the TV back on.

"_We are live as two survivors are being rushed to Neptune General Hospital. I have talked with a few of the students who weren't on the bus. All of them say they heard tires screeching on the asphalt and then what sounded like an explosion. The students were from Neptune High and on their way home from Sharks Stadium. We do know that Logan Echolls the son of accused murderer Aaron Echolls was on this trip. As soon as we learn any new information on the survivors or the names of the students who died we will update you_,"

"Kendal, I have to go," I snap as I begin to move away from her.

"Duncan I am all wet and ready," she mutters as she drops her robe all together.

"Kendal, Dick and Cassidy were both on that bus. I have to see if Veronica was on it," I sneer as she tries to pull me back toward the couch.

"Duncan, who cares," she says as I just turn to her ticked off.

"I care because Veronica is the love of my life. She is the only reason I am still in this hell hole of a town. I have to know she is alright," I yell as I run toward the door and open it.

"Duncan," Cassidy says as I almost run him down.

"Geez," I mutter. "Was Veronica with you guys," I ask rapidly as he looks like he is about to throw up.

"No, she was on the bus," he says as I almost shove him against the wall. "Logan asked her to come with us in the limo, but she wanted to ride back with Meg," he says as I run to my SUV and jump in. I am going 90 the whole way to the hospital.

"I need to know where Veronica Mars is," I yell as I rush into the ER barely catching sight of Logan in the corner of my eye.

"You need to leave," Logan says as I shove past him.

"I am here for Veronica," I snap as I see her dad stand up.

"Mr. Kane I think it would be wise for you to listen to Logan. I don't think you should be here. We are still waiting for the doctors to come out to give us any news," her dad says as I am clinching my fists ready to punch him or even Logan if I had to.

"I am not leaving until I see Veronica," I yell into Logan's face shoving him.

"Oh hell no," Dick says as he stands up right next to Logan.

"Sacks please escort Mr. Kane from the ER," comes the one voice that still irks me Sheriff Lamb.

"I'll just come back," I sneer in his face.

"I think the murder of Felix is still open," he retorts as I am being pushed around him toward the exit. Once outside I kick over a planter and shove the Deputy who escorted me out.

***LoVe***

**Keith**

"Thank you," I say as I watch Sacks escort Duncan out of the room.

"I actually needed to speak with Logan Echolls since he left the scene before we had a chance to talk," he half snaps.

"Sure," Logan mumbles as he half listens. "Do I need a lawyer?" he questions as I look to Don.

"No, you don't need a lawyer," Lamb snaps.

"I am a minor so I think I would like my parent present," Logan says snapping his fingers as I just shake my head.

"I am just going to ask you questions, there is no need for anyone else to be in the room," Lamb says as I chuckle.

"I'll answer your questions if Keith can be in the room," Logan says distractingly.

"Fine whatever, let's go," Lamb snaps as he leads us to a small room near the ER waiting room.

"Why weren't you on the bus?" Lamb asks as he gets out his pen. I turn on my phone to record the conversation to listen to later.

"On the way to the stadium there was a stench on the bus. Dick called his dad who said he would send a limo for us to ride back in if it was fine with our teacher. She said it was fine," Logan says pulling on his sleeves.

"If you rode in the limo, why was Ms. Mars on the bus," Lamb questions as Logan looks up.

"Veronica was going to ride back with us in the limo, but when Meg declined going back with us she changed her mind. Veronica was riding on the bus to be with Meg," Logan says as I watch him struggle with his words.

"Was there anyone acting weird or strange?" Lamb asks as I see Logan thinking.

"No, nothing. I mean when we left the bus there wasn't anyone around, so I don't know," Logan says as he looks to me.

"Do you think the crash was an accident?" Lamb asks Logan as I look over to him. He seems to be struggling with something.

"No," Logan says quickly.

"What do you mean 'no'?" I ask before I had a chance to think about it getting a dirty look from Don in the process.

"I was on the phone with Veronica right before the bus went over the cliff. We were joking," Logan says as he sniffles looking away out the window.

"Logan you were on the phone, what happened," I ask as I notice Lamb trying to think of what to ask.

"I heard an explosion and then screaming. I heard everyone yelling and Veronica calling to Meg. The last sounds I heard were of Veronica screaming," Logan mutters as he stands up leaving the room.

"Shit," I say as I turn to look at lamb.

"The bus has been brought up, but our team hasn't found anything pushing the investigation toward an explosion. There are no tire marks or anything showing the driver tried to slow down or stop the bus from going over the cliff," Lamb says as I nod my head.

"What if the explosion was meant to take out the brakes?" I say as Lamb was ready to exit the room.

"It would keep the driver from trying to slow the bus down and also keep that bus from not going over the edge," I say as Lamb nods.

"I'll have my men look into that theory, but that's all it is right now. The evidence leans more onto a suicidal mission," Lamb says as I just don't have the energy to argue with him. I would talk to Logan later about the whole thing once we have some news about Veronica and Meg.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

My whole body went rigid the moment I heard the explosion through the phone. I hated myself as I jumped from the limo before it even stopped because Veronica was helplessly on the damn bus, and I had not been there for her.

"Logan, man what the hell," Dick says as he catches up to me. I had already made it to the edge of the cliff, and watched as the bus sank lower into the water. "Damn it, someone call 911," he yells back at the other.

"Oh my god," one of the 09er girls says as she comes up to the edge. There were a few cars that slowed down to see if any one was hurt, but it was all for show. Dick and a few other guys made their way down the edge slowly as the paramedics started to show up.

"Logan," I heard Keith say as he pulled me toward him. "Veronica," he asks as I just look back toward the edge.

"She went on the bus with Meg. I should have been with her," I mumble as he pulls me to him.

"If you had been with here, you'd be down there as well," Keith says quickly.

"At least she wouldn't be alone," I snap as I jump up making my way back to the edge as I see a dirty Dick climbing back up the cliff's edge followed by a stretcher and a blonde.

"Whoa, it's Meg," Dick says pushing me back a little.

"Where's Ronnie?" I ask as I can tell he's holding something back.

"She'll be up next, but she wasn't breathing when we got there," he says as I watch the second stretcher being pulled up with her on it. I run right to her as one of the paramedics try to push me away.

"I'm her husband," I snap as I reach for her hand.

"Let him go with her," I hear a voice say from behind me. I get in the ambulance to see Lamb off to the side talking with Dick. I knew he was the person who spoke up since Keith was already in his car waiting for us to move.

When we arrived at the airport, I was ushered into the waiting room while Veronica was rushed off for surgery. I was way too exhausted to think clearly as I sat down to wait for information. I knew Keith would be here soon, and hopefully he would be able to get some information faster than I could. I was going over everything that had gone on throughout the day trying to see if I had missed something. I mean was this a very unexpected thing or did someone intentionally harm all of the people on the bus.

"How are you holding up?" Keith asks as he sits down beside me with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"How can you be so calm?" I ask as I am fidgeting with the sleeve of my shirt a habit I have done for a long time when I was unsure or nervous.

"I know that if something was wrong the doctors would come out and tell us. Logan she was alive when they brought her in," he says as I hear sirens going off in the distance and the words, 'cold blue,' as I stand up running toward the nurses' station.

"Mr. Echolls it was the other girl they brought in. We need you to wait for the doctor to come and talk with you," one of the nurses says as I was banging on the counter with my fist. I couldn't believe this! I just needed to know what the hell was going on.

"Hey man, how is Ronnie doing," Dick asks as I feel his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't know!" I yell as I walk disgustedly back to the seat next to Keith. Keith was on the phone with someone as I sat down.

"I don't care what you have to do, but you better tell her she needs to be here," I watched as Keith looked over at me as he listened to the other person on the phone. "Jake I know you know where she is. Veronica could die, and I think Lianne needs to be here," he snaps as he looks away from me.

"She wouldn't want her here," I finally manage to say as he stands up.

"I know, but if Veronica doesn't make it, Lianne needs to be here," he says as I see Mac and Wallace running toward me.

"How are they?" Mac quickly asks as Dick wraps an arm around her.

"We haven't heard a thing about either one of them," I snap as I look at the ER doors. It was several hours later when a doctor in blue scrubs comes out.

"Mr. Mars, Mr. Echolls," he says as our group all stand; Dick holding onto Mac, Wallace with his mom, Keith and me.

"I have been questioned by the Manning's in regards to their daughter, but since she is 18 and has Keith Mars listed on her insurance I am guessing you are the one to speak with," he says as he eyes up our group.

"Yes," Keith says without looking away from the doctor.

"Meg is stable, but we had to put her in an induced coma due to her being pregnant," he says as I hear a gasp. I look over to Alicia who had tears in her eyes.

"Yes, she found out a few months ago," I say as I turn back to the doctor.

"The coma is just to help with the swelling in her brain more than anything, but she is doing well. Her child was unharmed during the crash as well," he says as I let out a breath.

"When can she have visitors?" Mac asks as I get her a tight smile. I wanted to know about Veronica, but Meg was also a friend.

"We are getting her set up in a room right now. She could have visitors as early as tomorrow afternoon," he says as he flips through a stack of papers. "Now, Ms. Mars is also in stable condition, but she sustained several minor injuries to her body as a result to what looks like shielding of Ms. Manning," he says as he looks over a sheet of paper.

"What do you mean?" I question.

"The paramedics said they found Ms. Mars in a protective stance with Ms. Manning. Which means she was using her own body to protect her friend," he says as I just nod my head. Of course Veronica would put Meg above her own well being.

"Okay, so how bad is it," I ask as I watch Keith looking lost for words.

"I can tell Ms. Mars is a fighter; she has a lot of injuries, but she is still alive. I think our major concern is that she isn't brain dead. The first responders said that when they pulled her from the wreckage she wasn't breathing, and from the reports the bus was fully submerged for around 15 minutes. We are watching her brain waves for all signs of activity and right now she still has some," he says with a small smile. "The next 24 to 48 hours will tell where she stands," he says as he pauses.

"Is there more?" I ask as he looks from me to Keith.

"I think we need to discuss the rest of the results in private," he says looking around at all of our friends. I wanted to say no we can talk out here, but the look on his face meant it was serious.


	3. Wanting Answers

Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured

Chapter 3: Wanting Answers

**Logan**

I was livid when I reached the Sheriff's department, it had been a week since the bus incident and there hasn't been any new information. I mean I know they have to collect and gather evidence, but they should know something by now.

"Can I help you?" the lady behind the counter asks as I walk up.

"Yes, I'd like to speak to Sheriff Lamb," I snap impatiently as she looks from me to a door behind the counter.

"I'm sorry, but the Sheriff is really busy right now," she mutters as I slam my hand onto the counter drawing the attention of several officers.

"I don't care if he is busy or not. I have questions and he needs to give me some damn answers," I forcefully say as an officer walks up behind her.

"Mr. Echolls I don't like your tone," the man says as he pulls the woman away from the counter.

"Oh well," I snap as I read his name. This wasn't the usual Deputy Sacks, not this was Deputy Richards.

"I think you need to just go home and cool off before coming back here," Deputy Richards says as he tries to look scary.

"I am not leaving until I speak with Sheriff Lamb," I say as I step closer to him, "If Sheriff lamb decides not to speak with me, then I will use my family's name to drag this crapping excuse of a Sheriff's department through the mud," I sarcastically say as the man steps back.

"What is all this darn commotion out here?" Sheriff Lamb yells as he exits his office before the Deputy could respond to my threat.

"Awe, now was that hard at all," I snap as I see Lamb narrowing his eyes at me.

"If I had to guess it would involve you," he sneers at me as he walks closer.

"I would like to know why it's taking you so long to get some answers about what caused the bus accident," I furiously snap at him as he reaches for me, but stops in his tracks as several media journalists enter the room right on time as I smirk as he looks to me.

"This is your doing," he snarls at me as I smile while the journalists begin grilling him for information on why it was taking so long for him to release any information.

"Sheriff don't you think the two teens families deserve to know why their daughters are fighting for their lives," one lady asks as another takes a photo of him.

"Our department is processing all the evidence that we have gathered, and as soon as we have something concrete we will release a statement to the media," he says as he tries to keep his composure.

"Why don't you hire an outside company to help with the investigation?" I bluntly ask as the media frenzy pauses as all eyes turn to me once more.

"We are using what resources we can to do the best investigation possible," Lamb snaps as I just shake my head.

"Right, that is why its been a week and still no information," I reply as I can tell I am getting under his skin.

"I don't like your tone Mr. Echolls," he retorts as I just slowly make a smile as I decide what to say next.

"Have you even looked into the fact that I gave you information? I told you while I was on the phone with my wife, one of the survivors that I heard an explosion. Did you even look into that?" I sneer at him as he half lunges toward me while the press goes wild with that new detail.

"Did you have to hang him out like that?" Leo asks as he pulls me away from the crowd of journalists.

"Probably not, but if you are ever in my shoes let me know how you would handle it differently," I say as he leads me to our waiting Range Rover.

"Please tell me you didn't cause a circus," Keith asks as he smiles to me once I get in.

"Just a little one," I say as he turns to Leo who heads toward the Hospital. The media has died down slightly since it was reported that Veronica was in ICU, and that she was one of the two survivors. Keith gets out before me and leads me into the staff entrance as I watch the swarm of press move toward us.

"Mr. Mars, Mr. Echolls," Veronica's nurse says as I enter her room. I hated looking down at the strong woman I married to see such a fragile broken body. The doctors were excited she had made it through the initial 48 hours. They told us it meant she was a fighter, but I already knew that.

"I'm going to check in on Meg and then come back," Keith says as I sit down beside of Veronica and take her hand in mine. I lay my head down on the bed next to her arm and pray. I have prayed for her every day since the accident. I have sat with her for hours on end until either Keith asks me to take a break or the nurses shoo me out of the room. I want Veronica to know she is loved and missed.

_***Flashback***_

_It still felt like yesterday when the doctor asked to speak with Keith and me alone. I knew my worst fears were coming back to haunt me when he asked that, but Keith just excused us for a moment as we followed the doctor._

"_I didn't think this was something you would want everyone to know," the doctor says as he places two x-rays on the x-ray slider on the wall._

"_Is that what I think it is," Keith asks as I am lost._

"_Yes, we took a few sonograms as well, but that is a fetus," he replies as I look closer at the photos._

"_Veronica is pregnant," I ask as I see Keith tighten his grip on my shoulder, but loosens it when he sees my face._

"_Yes, Mr. Echolls your wife is approximately 3 or 4 months ago. It is hard to tell since she is so tiny to begin with, but once we take some samples and do a few more tests we should know more," the doctor says as he hands me the sonogram photos._

"_Logan, I'm not happy about this," Keith says as I just continue to look at the pictures._

"_I am elated," I say honestly as I hear him groan before leading me back to our waiting family._

***End***

"Hey," Dick says as he enters the room sitting down on the sofa in front of the window as he looks out. I had decided to tell our friends who were all happy for me, but I still worried about how I was going to be as a father and a husband when Veronica woke up. She had to wake up. I couldn't do survive this life without her beside me.

"Have you checked in on Meg?" I question as he laughs.

"Mac was in there talking to her. I brought your homework and books," he says as he hands me the binder he had in his hand.

"Okay, so what homework are we working on tonight," I ask as we get down to studying. I usually worked with Dick for an hour or two and then Mac or Wallace switches with him as we study something else just to keep Veronica and Meg company.

Dick and I had been working on some math equations when there was a soft knock on the door. I turned to see Jake Kane standing there. I hand my book to Dick as I make my way to the man I once thought was a good guy.

"What are you doing here?" I snap as I see Keith coming toward us.

"I came to see if there was anything I could help with," Jake says as I just laugh.

"You want to help, keep your psychotic son away from us," I snap as I feel Keith's hand on my shoulder.

"Logan, why don't you go look in on Meg, Wallace is in there, but Mac would like to spend some time with Dick and Veronica," he says as I look back to Veronica's room and then nod my head as I walk off.

***LoVe***

**Keith**

"I agree with Logan, what are you doing here Jake," I question as he runs his hand through his hair.

"I saw what Logan did at the station. I was there with the Manning's as he set Lamb up. I honestly came to see if I could help with anything," he says as I see him pull his phone out and look at it before sighing.

"Why don't you answer it?" I snap losing my patience with him.

"It's Meg's dad wanting to know if I had any luck getting her medical back in their name," he says as he shoves his phone back into his pocket.

"That's not going to happen," I bluntly say as he nods his head.

"Yeah, I know that. I know Duncan was here a few days ago and made a scene. Celeste has him at home right now," he says as I just nod this time.

"I ended things with Lianne when I found out she refused to come here for Veronica. I cut her off totally," he says as I look back at him.

"Logan was thankful she didn't come," I say as he just sighs.

"I never thought she would walk out on you or Veronica. I wish so many times I would have told her no, but I was selfish and continued seeing her even after I knew it was destroying your family. Keith I know it probably means nothing, but I am sorry," he says as I actually find it funny that he thinks apologizing now would solve all of our problems.

"It's a little too late for that," I solemnly say as he turns toward Veronica's door.

"There was a time when I actually hoped Veronica was mine after Lilly had been murdered, but then when I saw how she stood by you when no one else did it made me realize you were the better man. If Veronica had turned out to be mine I would have left her with you for that reason. You taught her to be the woman she is today. I can't tell you one father daughter moment I had with Lilly," he says disgusted.

"I knew my time with her was short. I wouldn't have given her to you anyway," I say as I walk away from him.

"Keith," he says as I turn slightly. "I am putting pressure on Woody Goodman to have Lamb get in touch with you. You need to be on the bus accident team. We both know he isn't going to get the job done," Jake says as I enter my daughter's room with a smile.

"Mr. Mars," Dick says as I see Mac untangle herself slightly from the surfer.

"Am I interrupting," I ask questionably with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Dick mutters as Mac hits him lightly.

"I was just telling Dick how my day was and he was consoling me," Mac says as I laugh. I knew that Mac was having a rough time, but it still was something to see her with Dick.

***LoVe***

**Dick**

I hated how time seemed to go so slow when waiting for news. It has been nothing but waiting for the past few months. Veronica is still in the hospital in a coma, but Meg has been home for a few weeks resting. I can't believe she is doing so much better thankfully because Veronica did a good job protecting her. I know that Meg collaborated Logan's story about hearing an explosion as the bus went over the cliff. It was three days after Logan took the media into the Sheriff's station that Meg opened her eyes.

"Dick," Mac yells for me as I am pulled from my thoughts.

"Sorry, what did you say," I ask as she just laughs.

"I asked if you were going to see Logan this afternoon," she says as I pick at the lunch that was sitting in front of me.

"No, he said they were going to be running tests on her," I say as she nods her head.

"Were you banned from visiting as well?" Wallace asks as he sits down across from me.

"Yeah, tests," I mutter as Wallace takes out his phone and begins typing on it.

"I talked with Mr. Mars and he asked for all of us to be at the house later this afternoon," he says as he looks up from his phone.

The rest of the day was boring compared to surfing or just hanging out with my friends. I saw my little brother talking with Duncan as I headed to Mac who was waiting by my truck for me.

"I heard Veronica woke up," Beaver sneers to Duncan as I walked by them. I turned slightly to look at Duncan to see if he was going to reply or not.

"It doesn't matter. I hear she is so deformed that she looks like a stunted slut anyway," Duncan retorts glaring at me as I go to punch him I feel a small hand on my shoulder.

"Dick, he isn't worth it. Duncan is just upset Veronica wouldn't leave Logan for him. He thought she would treat Logan like her mother treated her dad," Mac says as Duncan moves toward her.

"You don't know anything you bitch," he yells at Mac as I decide to just walk away. The teen yelling at us wasn't the same one who use to hang out with us anymore. No this teen was a vicious excuse of his former self. Mac and I get into my truck and head to Logan's house. The security guy at the gate smiles as he waves us in when he opened the gate. I noticed that Logan's and Wallace's cars were both here.

"I am perfectly capable of sitting on the couch," I hear a familiar voice snap as I make my way toward the living room. I had to laugh at the sight in front of me. Meg was sitting on one edge of the couch as Logan was hovering over Veronica on the other end. "Logan I'm not made of glass back off," she snaps as I see her swatting his hands away from her.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I woke up in pain as I opened my eyes to see Logan's head on the bed beside my arm. I slowly lift it up to touch his hair to make sure he was real. I had dreamed of him for so long, and I wanted this to be real.

"Ronnie," he croaks out as I give him a small smile.

"Hey," I whisper out.

"God, it's great to see your beautiful eyes open," he says as he presses something on the bed.

"Where am I?" I ask as I try to think of what had happened.

"You are in the hospital. You were in an accident about a month ago," he says as I see flashes in my mind about the explosion, the bright lights and the water I had a hard time getting out of. I start to shake as I feel him trying to sooth me. "You are alive and fine," Logan says softly as I hear the door open.

"I will get the doctor Mr. Echolls and call your father as well," the intruder says as I try to calm down.

"I thought I was going to die," I mutter as I take deep breaths.

"I'm glad you didn't though," he says as he kisses my forehead resting his forehead against mine.

"What happened?" I ask as I try to think back fully on what I remember besides the flashes I already had.

"I don't know all the details but from what Meg has been able to tell us and our conversation right before it happened. I think someone planted a bomb on the bus to take out someone," he says looking away as I realize that it could have been me everyone was after or him, the possibilities were endless.

"You said Meg helped, how is she," I ask as he gives me a smile.

"Meg and her little girl are doing well. She was released a couple of weeks ago once she woke up," he says as I see my dad enter the room.

"I am totally putting you in a giant hamster ball," he mutters as he gathers me into his arms hugging me.

"Dad, can't breathe," I say as he releases me slowly.

"You have had this young man going stir crazy with worry," my dad says as he wipes tears from his eyes. "I have been doing everything I could to help bring the person responsible to justice," he continues as they both take turns to tell me what I have missed while I was sleeping. I was slightly surprised that it was midnight when I woke up. The doctor had come in and checked me out. I even had someone see how well my legs and arms move. My dad laughed as he described how Logan would do exercises with my legs and arms to keep them from going stiff.

"Mrs. Echolls we have a few tests we want to run before we decide what to do next," the doctor says as I see the light shinning out my window.

"How do you feel?" Logan asks me again as I watch him pace along my bed checking all the machines and tubes.

"I would feel so much better if you would come sit with me instead of pacing," I snap at him as he smiles.

"I sure missed your witty remarks," he says softly as he nudges me slightly as he sits beside me on the bed. I lean into him as I feel his hand go from my stomach.

"How do you feel about having a baby so young?" I ask breaking the silence.

"To be totally honest; I was worried that I might have to choose between the two of you at some point. I mean the doctors were stressing me out when they took you out of the induced coma and you hadn't woken up. I kept telling myself I would make the right decision, but I would have been lost. I have been excited knowing that you and I made this little being," he says smiling as he shows me a black and white ultrasound photo. I took it from him amazed at how tiny our little baby was.

"Oh my that is a tiny baby," I finally say as my dad comes back into the room.

"Logan you caved," he mutters as he holds up a small pony with a pink balloon.

"I didn't know I was supposed to wait. I just gave her the photo," Logan says as my dad smirks at him.

"I'm just giving you a hard time. How do you feel about it?" he asks me as I take the pony from my dad. I was a little worried about being a mom so young, but I knew Meg was going through exactly what I was and we could lean on each other.

"I'm actually okay with it. The baby is half me and half of Logan," I say as the doctor comes in to take me for my testing. I had an MRI and CAT scan done. Then I was taken to a physical therapist to see how well my joints worked. I had some stiff movements as I stood up while a guy walked behind me. He gave me praise as he had me walk across a bridge. He then had be pull a small weight in my hands to see how well my arm muscles were. He told me that I had great muscle tone and movement for someone who had been out for as long as I had been.

I was taken back to my room where I was helped out of the bed and into a chair that was situated near the window. I was looking out it when Logan finally came back with some food.

"A penny for your thoughts," he says as he sits down beside me.

"I was just thinking about how pretty it is outside," I say as he snuggles into my neck.

"Well I have some great news," the doctor says as he enters the room a few minutes later. "All of the tests show that you are completely healthy. I know you might have some stiffness in your joints or muscles, but getting up and moving around will help with that. I know that your husband has said that if we were to release you he would make sure you had some home care. I have talked with your father and I have decided you can go home," he says as I look over to Logan who has tears in his eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep her for a few more days? She's a pesky little thing," Logan teases as I see a smile on the doctor's face.

"No, I think she will be fine at home. Meg's nurse has already been contacted and will be waiting for you guys once we discharge her," he says as he walks out the door once again leaving the tow of us alone. Logan takes the time to kiss me slowly before deepening it as my hands move to his hair pulling him closer.

"That is exactly how you ended up pregnant!" my dad says as he clears his throat.

"Ugh!" Logan groans as I laugh. I bet my dad has lectured Logan so many times it would be crazy to guess. "I texted the guys to meet us at the house afterschool instead of here," he says changing the issue at hand. Logan then tells me how I always had someone close by in case they were needed. I wasn't surprised to hear that Dick and Mac helped out several times as well. I was a little worried when he mentioned how Duncan tried to get to me when I was first admitted.

I was super excited almost bouncy in my seat as my dad was driving me home. I had the window down like a dog and was taking in the fresh air as well as all the sounds. When we got closer to the house I began to get more excited than I already was. Logan kept trying to keep me in my seat. When we got to the gate I heard the guy say something to my dad who just laughed as we passed.

Once we were parked Logan came around to my side of the Ranger Rover opening the door and helping me out. I tentively took a step, but before I could face plant on the driveway I felt myself being lifted up and carried.

"Logan I can walk," I say as I wiggle some before he squeezes me.

"I know but you are supposed to take it easy. This is me helping you take it easy," he says as I hear my dad laughing harder behind me.

"I am not an invalid. I hate this so much," I snap as I am being seated on the fluffy couch opposite to where Meg was seated.

"Welcome home," she says when she sees me.

"Sure," I mutter as she laughs.

"Veronica, they are all like that. I have hardly moved unless I needed to move to keep my muscles from aching," she says as she motions around the room to Leo, Logan and my dad. "They just want to take care of you," she says smiling. I just stifle a grunt as Logan begins to get on my nerves hovering over me as I hear the front door open.

"I am perfectly capable of sitting on the couch," I snap as Logan doesn't seem to want to move. "Logan I'm not made of glass back off," I finally say exhaustedly as I try to swat his hands away from me. I disliked how he was making me feel.

"The doctor only agreed to let you come home if you rested," he says pensively as he notices our friends enter the room.

"Wow, this looks like a very domestically normal thing for them," Dick says as he nudges Mac as she just looks like she would rather be anywhere than where she was. I smiled as I noticed how all of them fit so perfectly into my life.

After a few more minutes of Logan making sure I was covered and tucked in with a can of Skist; he finally sat down beside me. The two of us took turns explaining to our friends and family how I woke up. We talked about what my plans were and how long Logan planned on keeping me locked up. It was a very uneventful afternoon just havin fun among friends. Around 6:30 Wallace and Mac took their leave while Dick bunkered down in his normal guest room. Logan helped Meg up to the other spare room while my dad sat down beside me.

"I am so glad you are home," he says as I lean into him. It has been awhile since I felt like I needed him like I did right now.

"I was so scared," I say as he looks at me questionably before I continued, "The day on the bus Meg didn't want to ride back with the other kids so I went with her. I am glad I did because dad what if I wasn't there. Meg might not have survived," I say as tears hit me. I remembered how fast everything happened all at once and my only concern was making sure Meg was with me.

"You did the right thing. I believe you both survived because it wasn't your time to go yet," my dad says heartfeltly.

"I don't even know what kind of turmoil Logan must have been in. I mean he has been so strong all day," I say as I see a shadow in the kitchen.

"He wasn't going to give up on you. Honey that is what a husband does; he stinks by his partner making sure they don't get left behind," he says with a smirk. "I think your good husband is ready for you to be alone with him," he says all too knowingly as Logan enters the living room as he kisses my forehead and leaves.

"Okay hot stuff, lets head to bed," I say as I remove my blanket and fold it before going to stand up.

"Let's go," he says holding his hand out. I walk to the base of the stairs and look up them not sure if I was ready to tackle them just yet, but before I have a mini breakdown Logan moves around me holding one hand as I hold the railing and walk up the stairs one step at a time. "I'm glad I could help m'lady," he snickers as he half bows in front of me.

"Laugh it up, one day you might need my help and I'll remember this moment," I say as I throw myself on the soft bed. I sure missed my bed. Logan helped me out of my clothes in our bathroom as I brushed my teeth. I watched him as he went into the closet coming back with a simple night gown.

"I missed you," he says as he snuggles into my back.

"I missed you as well," I softly say before I begin to drift off to sleep thinking of a little blonde haired brown eyed beauty.


	4. LoVe Forged

Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured

Chapter 4: LoVe Forged

**Logan**

I woke up earlier than usual just to check that Veronica was really laying beside me. I thought I had dreamed the whole day before, but no she was soundly asleep next to me. I lay there just watching her sleep while I think of all the things that I wanted to tell her.

"Morning," I say as I see her beginning to stretch. She turns to look over at me only to smile.

"I thought I had dreamed this hot guy sleeping next to me," she smirks at me as I just try to take in all of her.

"Well I think I told you I always like to start the day off waking up next to a hot blonde or was it waking up with a hot blonde in my bed," I was still joking as I felt her lips crashing against mine.

"Does it matter?" she finally questions as we come up for some air.

"No, it doesn't," I laugh as she snuggles into my side more. "You do know I have to get up at some point to get something for you to eat," I say as she just shakes her head in protest.

"They deliver," she mumbles into my side.

"Right, no your dad isn't going to be delivering food to our bedroom because you want to lay in bed with your husband all day," I try to reason, but knowing her with her dang head tilt she could probably get him to do just that.

"I'm sure I could convince him to bring us some grub," she says titling her head slightly top the left as I have to laugh at her. I'm sure she could get just about anyone to do her bidding with that tilt. She might even be able to bring grown men to their knees with one notch to the left.

"You are a very tiring person," I say as I hear the front door open and close.

"Well your stuck with me," she pouts as she moves to get up. Her small baby bump showing as her tank top lifts up slightly as she goes to stand up.

"Where do you think you are going?" I question as I pull her back to the bed. She half giggles and swats at my hands.

"I need to go to the bathroom. It seems your kid is squishing my bladder," she groans as I let her go. It was odd to hear her refer to our baby at all. I mean I knew it was ours, but it just seems so unreal. We were going to have a little person in a few months.

"Come on," I say to her as she comes out of the bathroom. I toss her a sundress that she slips on as I reach for her hand.

"Where are we going?' she questions softly as I just pull her along. I stop once we are at the back door heading to the deck. I grab one of the blankets off of the rack by the fireplace and head outside. I move a few chaises into position and then pull her to the one I set up for us. I throw the blanket over us, and wrap my arms around her as the sun begins to come up.

"This has always been by favorite part of getting up early to surf," I say as the sun begins just to peek up sending rays of pink, orange and red across the morning sky.

"It is amazing," she says as she snuggles into my side. I am happy to just be holding her at all. I vaguely hear the door open.

"Seriously, you two are cramping my style," Dick jokes as he grabs a surf board and heads out to surf.

"Does he even remember whose house he's staying in?" Veronica asks as I just chuckle. She was right.

"I think he thinks it's his as well. I mean he does stay here more than he does at his own house," I say as she laughs.

"How is he treating Mac?" she asks as I laugh.

"I think Mac has actually mellowed him out some. He is so nice to her. I wonder sometimes if Mac was born into the wrong family," I say as Veronica half chokes and then coughs. "Are you alright?" I question as she nods her head.

"I'm glad that Meg is here with us. I just hope she is doing okay with all the different changes and all that," Veronica mutters as I try to think back to the information I had been reading up on about pregnancy and all that.

"She seems to be doing well. I know she wishes Duncan was helping her out, but I don't think anything is going to help him get his head out of his a..." I was stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"I see you got her out of bed. I was worried she would try to get the royal treatment. All of us waiting on her hand and foot," Keith says as he sits on a chaise next to us. Veronica is shooting her dad daggers.

"I am not that bad," she protests as he chuckles.

"Keep telling yourself that," Keith says as I smile. "Logan you're still going to school Monday, Meg and I can keep Veronica busy for a few hours," he continues as I feel her stiffen up a little.

"I'll be back in the afternoon," I quickly say as she turns into my neck. "Veronica, I have to get back to school. I hate leaving you here at home, but I have missed a lot since the accident," I say as I feel her head nod into my shoulder.

"I guess I'll have to be getting back there as well," she groans as I try to keep a straight face when she looks up at me.

"Yes, but I think you could weasel at least a few more days at home," her dad says as she smiles.

"Well at least I have you for two whole days," she says as her dad clears his throat.

"Actually, Logan has to leave shortly to do a few things for the upcoming trial with Aaron," Keith tells her as she totally stiffens up at the mention of Aaron.

"Don't worry Veronica. I am meeting with a lawyer to go over the evidence my mom left with you as well as the pictures you took after one of his beatings. I want to make sure he can't get out for any reason," I say as she seems to relax.

"When is the trial?" she asks as I look over at Keith.

"The trail is set for May, several months from now," he replies as Dick steps up on the deck.

"You missed some great waves," he says laughing as he shakes his head out causing water to rain down on us.

"Dick," Veronica mutters as she buries her head under the covers more. Dick goes into the house followed by Keith who points at his watch as he walks away.

I wait a few more minutes before we head back into the house. Veronica goes to the counter where her dad has an assortment of pastries laid out on a plate. She reaches for a few before heading to the couch where Meg was already seated. I give her a kiss before heading back upstairs to get dressed and head over to talk with Cliff. Cliff has helped me from day one, so it was only fitting for him to be the one to help me now.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Do you have an appointment?" the over dressed woman asks me as I walk into the office.

"Yes, Logan Echolls-Mars," I say as she quirks an eyebrow at me. I couldn't legally drop the Echolls name without a parents' consent, but I could hyphenate my name to proudly carry Keith's and Veronica's.

"Cliff, a Logan Echolls is here for you," the woman says into a phone I knew deliberately leaving off the Mars. "Right, okay," she says as she hangs up the phone. She gives me a tight smile before picking up her purse and walking out of the office. A moment later Cliff comes out of his office; he has something in his hand that he begins to move around the room before he turns it off.

"Okay, let's go into my office," he says as he locks the office door and places a chair under the handle. "I want to keep all of this under wraps," he says as I nod my head. I was totally sure that was true. All the evidence that the prosecution can get to paint the best picture of the type of man he was the better for us.

I spent almost 4 hours in a tiny cramped office space with Lamb, a DA attorney and Cliff going over all the evidence from videos, pictures and notes that my mother left. I had to retell as much as I could all the abuse Aaron had done to me. It was painful at times to think about what I was being punished for and why. At the end of the time I was mentally wiped out.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

Logan had been gone for several hours already and I was getting worried. My dad was trying to keep by occupied, but I just wanted to know he was alright. I hated not knowing what was going on. I was currently relaxing with Meg and Dick on the couch watching some movie with surfing. I couldn't tell you much about it since my eyes were glued to the clock.

"Logan," I say as I stumble to him once I heard the garage door opening. He barely caught me as I launched myself at him the moment he opened the door.

"Veronica, I have only been gone a few hours," he says as I kiss him.

"Hours turned into days for me," I muttered as he pulls away from me to look at me.

"Are you alright?" he questions.

"I was just worried. I mean you were reliving the hell Aaron put you through," I say as he strokes my cheek before kissing me once more.

"Thank you," he says as he takes my hand and leads me back to the couch with our friends.

"Why were you thanking me?" I ask as he just smiles.

"I was thanking you for caring," he says softly as I snuggle into his side knowing that there was more to his words since his expression was saying something totally differently. We spent the next few hours just enjoying our friends and eating some good food. Leo and my dad were both out for the majority of the early to late evening.

We both went to bed around 9:30 when Dick and Meg turned in, but even after Logan fell asleep I laid awake thinking about all the horrible things Logan must have had to relieve and go into detail about. It bothered me a little that he had to do that, but I understood the reasoning behind it. I hated the thought that since Aaron had a high powered attorney he might be able to get off with the charges against him. It was wrong for bad people to get away with a crime.

I woke slightly when Logan got out of bed. We spent the majority of Sunday lying in bed or out on the beach. He wanted to enjoy the sun before having to head back to the real world. My dad had talked with him about how his statement went, but Logan didn't really share many details about what he said or what had happened.

"Isn't it still dark out?" I questioned as he got out of bed.

"Yeah, Dick wants me to go surfing with him. I want you to go back to sleep," he says as he kisses me. I want to reach out for more, but he was gone before I had a chance to do so.

"Dang it," I heard a muttering voice as I saw some light flittering into the room through the shears on the windows.

"School," I say as he turns to look back at me.

"Yeah, but I really want to stay here in bed with you," he smirks as I crawl over toward him.

"I would love for you to as well, but I think a higher education is on the agenda for you today," I chuckle as he smiles.

"Yes, it is. I have a free period last class so I'll be home then," he says as he kisses me good bye and heads out of the room. I was going to lie in bed some more, but I decided to get up. I looked into Meg's room, but her bed was made.

"You're up," my dad says as he looks up from the paper he was reading.

"Yeah, my bed was too big and lonely. Where is everyone?" I ask as he looks around the room.

"I'm right here daughter," he smirks as he smiles. "They all went to school. Meg wanted to go and do some learning," he says as I nod my head.

"So are you going to stay here with me all day then," I ask as he shakes his head.

"No, we are going to venture to the office. I want to clear out some things, but didn't want to leave you here alone," he says as he hands me a cup of tea. I learned yesterday morning too much caffeine is bad for a baby, so Logan says I can't drink coffee anymore. I hope he is ready for ill tempered Veronica.

It felt odd walking into Mars Investigations after being gone for so long. I walked over to my desk and looked down to see it was still on the day that I was to be working before all the Echolls crazy happened. I wouldn't give it all up though, but it has been a strange time since then. I filed some for a while then I played games on the computer for awhile, but Logan found me asleep on the couch when he came in.

"Veronica," he says as I am trying to open my eye, but am still tired.

"Go away," I mutter as I feel him laughing into my neck just before he kisses my juggler causing my heart to race a little.

"Are you ready to wake up?" he mumbles into my neck.

"No," I moan as I hear more laughter. I open my eyes to see not only Logan looking down at me but also my dad. "Private moment ruined," I mutter as Logan sits on the couch next to my feet pulling them into his lap.

"How was your nap?" my dad asks as he sits on the coffee table.

"It was alright until someone decided to wake me up," I mutter shooting eye darts at Logan.

"I guess filing some folders is hard work, or is it playing games," my dad asks joking as I go to kick him with my foot, but Logan won't let me have my foot back.

We spend the rest of the afternoon and evening at the office. Logan goes into detail the rumors that are floating around about me, but when he told me how people treated Meg I was upset. He even told me how Duncan sat by while his friends snickered and yelled insults at Meg. I wondered why because Meg wasn't showing much, but he said it was because she had gained some weight. She was no longer skinny and blonde.

When we got home it was time for bed, but that was fine with me because I decided I was going to school tomorrow. I was going to lay into Duncan Kane for being a jack ass idiot. Yes, I would set him in place, but I didn't want to hurt Logan by doing this. I would have to probably talk with him before doing it, but I was so disappointed in my ex-boyfriend. I thought he was better than this. I fell asleep wondering what Lilly thought of how Duncan was treating people especially the mother of his child.


	5. Chapter 5

Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured

_A/N: I must say that without the ever insistence of Dramamomma who keeps me from slacking on this story thank you for your support. I am glad you like it._

Chapter 5: Soul Repercussions

**Veronica**

I was up before Logan had a chance to talk with my dad into making me stay home. I saw the look on Meg's face when she walked into the house. I knew how she felt because I was once on the receiving line of the 09er's crap.

"Morning," my dad says as he walks into the kitchen.

"Morning," I mumble as I drink down the hot coffee before Logan comes down.

"You know that Logan will murder me if I allow you to continue to drink this," my dad says firmly as he takes the cup out of my wanting hand.

"Way to go, buzz kill," I mutter as he chuckles.

"I guess I shouldn't ask where you are going today because my thought is somewhere you shouldn't, but I don't want to over step my bounds," he says softly as I look directly at him.

"I'm going to school. I don't like the way students are treating Meg. I want to show her she has someone in her corner right now, especially since she needs it now more than ever," I say as I hear a few swear words coming from upstairs.

"I think Logan is up," my dad says as he takes his cup of coffee and hurriedly wakes out on the deck.

"Chicken," I mutter as I hear footsteps on the stairs. "Morning," I say without looking over my shoulder at Logan.

"Where do you think you are going?" Logan questions as I still don't look at him to answer.

"I am going to school," I say as I stand up to turn to look at him.

"No, you are not," he snaps as I laugh at him.

"I am going," I say as he pinches the bridge of his nose. It's a habit I have seen him do a few times, more so when he is frustrated with me.

"Veronica I don't want to argue about this, but I really think for you and our baby it would be better for you to stay home one more day," he says as he places his hand on my stomach. Great he was playing the baby card, damn it. I need to stand my ground for this.

"I will take it easy. I need to take care of someone," I say as he half sighs and chuckles at the same time.

"It was worth a try. Duncan will still be there Wednesday," he says as I look up at him. How the heck had he know who I was going to school for?

"Please," I say titling my head to the left knowing that he will buckle to it.

"Awe, shit she's doing the head tilt," Dick says as he comes into the room followed closely by Meg who has a smile on her face.

"I guess Ronnie won whatever debate you two were having," dick says as Logan smacks him on the back of the head.

"Of course she did, he is putty in her hands," my dad says as he walks into the kitchen. "He was her patsy without him even knowing it," he says as he gestures to Logan with a huge grin.

"I am standing right here," Logan mutters as I wrap my arms around his waist. "I didn't even get a chance to reply," he mutters as I stand on my tippy toes to kiss him.

"Well," I say as he tilts his head to the left in mocking me.

"I still say it's a bad idea," he says as I smile again knowing full well I won the first of many debates in this marriage.

"Yes, but your idea of bad is so much worse than mine," I say as he just shakes his head. We both head back upstairs before heading to school. I take the shirt I had off to see what my stomach looked like. I slipped out of my jeans as I noticed they had left a red band around my stomach.

"I think maybe you should stick to loose fitting clothes," Logan says as he notices me rubbing my stomach.

"I guess, I hadn't thought about that. I mean I am not huge or anything, but I have gained some weight," I honestly say as he goes into our closet.

"I think this will be okay," he says as he hands me a navy sundress with ruffles on the skirt portion if the dress and a black sweater to wear over it. I actually liked it. The dress fit me just right.

"Thanks," I reply as he pulls a jacket off its hanger. He leads the way as I grab my book bag. Dick and Meg were already outside waiting for us.

"I like your outfit," Meg says as she gets into the back of the Ranger Rover. I had to laugh because I don't think all four of us have ever went to school together, but I bet a united front was better than a divided one.

It wasn't a long drive from the beach house to Neptune High, but the scenery didn't do anything to calm my nerves. It has been several weeks since I was last here. I was almost in a panic attack when Logan reached for my hand and squeezed it as if he could tell I wasn't actually ready for this. He pulled into a spot near Wallace, who was waiting with Mac at his car.

"Well, if it ain't the reclusive blonde sleuth," he says as Logan opens the door for me. I smile as he shakes hands with Logan and hi fives Dick. Dick now has his arm protectively wrapped around Mac. I was still getting used to that one. I move around the Range Rover to head toward the administration office when I see Duncan out of the corner of my eye.

"Come on, you have time for him later," Logan says as he pulls me along. Mr. Clemmons was waiting for me with some paperwork to fill out before he would give me my class schedule. I was half paying attention as he went on about what he expected of me.

"Ms. Echolls are you even listening to me," he says as I look over at him.

"No," I honestly say as he shakes his head and hands me my schedule. I can tell it's the same classes as I had before. I wasn't too surprised by that.

"Let's get to class before Clemmons decides to send you home for not listening," Logan smirks as he leads me away yet again. Logan thought that he was being cute, but he forgot who he was dealing with. I would see Duncan at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. I walked into the classroom with a minute to spare before the bell rang. The teacher looked up from her desk to just barely glance my way, but the shock was evident on the other students in the class. Yes, Veronica Mars was back.

I sat down in the only empty seat toward the back of the room near Weevil. He looked me up and down before looking back to the front of the class. The teacher told us our next assignment, but I wasn't here for the first part of it nor did I know what to do.

"You need a partner," Weevil asks as he turns his desk to face mine.

"Yeah," I mutter as I realize this is going to be a long period. Weevil shares the previous tasks with me. They were simple enough for me to understand and we were done with this task before most of the class. I decided to work on some other work to keep me busy, but Weevil wanted to chat.

"How are you doing, Vee," he says as the teacher walks around the room helping students with the work.

"I'm doing well," I say looking down at my notes.

"Logan treating you well," he says, I look over at him. He said it in a way that meant more than I probably should think.

"He is treating me very well. Is there a reason for that question?" I half snap as he shakes his head.

"Nah, my grandma would come home occasionally and say how sorry she was that he wasn't himself. I thought she was just giving him a break, but it wasn't until I actually saw him that I realized what you meant to him," he says as the bell rings.

"Thanks," I say as I toss my books in my bag and race to the door. I give him a small smile before I exit the room. If Weevil would tell me how torn up Logan was, than everyone should have known how much I meant to him. Why would Duncan even think for a moment I would turn on Logan?

"Hey," Logan says as he catches up to me.

"Hey yourself," I reply as he gives me a look.

"What would you like for lunch?" he asks as I begin to walk to my next class. Right, food is a very safe discussion for the two of us.

"Surprise me," I say smiling as I walk into my next class and see Duncan sitting right in the middle. Of course Logan was in this class as well, and he wasn't too happy to see the smirk on my face.

"Not right now," he mutters as he pulls me toward the other side of the room away from Duncan.

"But it's the perfect time," I whine as he wags his finger in my face and I take a nip at it.

"I still don't know what you see in him. I mean his father murdered your best friend. How can you play house with him?" Duncan sneers at me as Logan pulls me closer to him

"Play house," I sneer at him as I fill ticked off by his word choice. "I don't have to play house with him. I married him. I love him," I snap as Duncan moves closer to me.

"We could have that as well if you just gave us another chance," Duncan gleefully tells me and the rest of the class who were looking at the three of us.

"I want a man who believes in me, not a little boy who runs away in face of danger," I snap as I see the smirk leave Duncan's face as he moves away from me slamming his books onto the table across the room as Ms. Houser comes into the room.

"Welcome to Life Skills 101. This class is part of your graduation requirements," she says as she goes into detail the tasks and assignments we'll be doing in the class and what they are worth. It was good that the new semester had just started. This semester would take us to Christmas break. "I think you will all be broken into partners for the duration of this course by the names I pull out of this hat," she has said most of the class only a few more names and I could either be partnered with Logan or Duncan. "Awe, Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls," she says as my racing heart slows a little.

"Come on," Duncan mutters as he is partnered with Gia Goodman. He gives me a creepy look as the teacher goes into our first assignment. The class goes by faster once she tells us what she wanted us to do. The next two classes I didn't have Logan in, but Duncan was in both as was Meg and Dick. Dick made sure to usher me in the opposite direction of Duncan. I wasn't sure if Logan had anything to do with it or not, but probably did.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I was worried about Veronica all morning. I felt better knowing that in our Life Skills class we were partners. I was very worried she'd be partnered with Duncan and that wouldn't end well for either of them. I made sure to text Dick to keep her away from Duncan at all costs.

'_Dude she's getting suspicious_' Dick texts me after the first class.

'_Dick relax, lunch is almost here. I'll meet you guys in FBLA'_ I text back as I sit down next to Weevil. He gave me a strange look before facing the front of the room. I stare at the clock as the minutes pass by so slowly. I text my order to the Chinese place half an hour before the bell rang so that the food would be waiting when I got out of class. I had nothing better to do than but to go back to staring at the clock until the bell rang, hardly hearing a word the teacher had said. It was hard to focus on anything else while Veronica was so close.

"You had better gotten egg rolls," Veronica says as I hand a bag off to Dick who laughed at her words and walked ahead of us to the classroom.

"Don't worry I even ordered extra in case that was all you wanted!" I say as she smiles a huge grin.

"That isn't going to get you off the hook for making our friends play referee," she says with an all knowing smirk. I knew she knew what I had been doing, but I had hoped she would let it slide. We walked into Mr. Pope's classroom holding hands. The classroom was situated in a horseshoe shape there weren't any desks together, but Duncan was sitting in one separating two different seats.

"Okay let's begin the new class session," Mr. Pope says as he claps his hands together causing me and Veronica to walk toward where Duncan was seated. Duncan picks up his lunch and moves over one seat dropping his food onto the table. "I'd like to begin our local profile series by introducing the CEO of Casablancas Enterprises, Mr. Richard Casablancas," he continues as he points behind himself to where Dick's dad was leaning against the desk.

I decide to play buffer so I sit down beside of Duncan and she sits next to Dick. I put her bag of Chinese food on the table and she opens up the containers looking to see what I ordered her. She looks over at me and kisses me.

"So, who are we exploiting now?" she whispers to me as she picks up an egg roll and takes a bite.

"The workers," I say as she kisses me again and steals a piece of sweet and sour chicken off of my plate.

"Eggs-cellent," she says as she claps her hands together with a grin. I laugh because she was being so light hearted. I could tell Duncan wasn't too thrilled about our interactions by his groans of disgust.

"Great now I've lost my appetite. Why don't the two of you go somewhere else," he snaps as he drops his sandwich onto his tray. I couldn't help it so I roll my eyes at him. I mean was it so horrible to show the person you care about how much they mean to you. I ignore him and pay attention to Dick's dad's speech.

"That was very enlightening," Veronica says as she picks up her bag before tossing her empty containers in the trash as we walk out the classroom door.

"Actually it was, but for some reason his numbers don't seem to add up to me or it would be the perfect thing to invest in," I say. I mean Dick would be making money off of me, but the whole thing seemed off. I would talk with Keith about it later. The rest of the afternoon went by quickly, luckily for me Veronica was in my last two classes so I could keep an eye on her.

"I'm glad I got to get back in the saddle so to speak," she says as we are walking toward the Range Rover.

"I know you want a pony, but right now we have more pressing matters," I say as she gives me a pointed glare.

"If it isn't the son of a murder and his whoring wife," Cassidy says as we get to our vehicle. Duncan snickers at his words as I see Veronica take a deep breath.

"You know what Duncan I don't know why I even dated you to begin with. I mean sure at the time I thought you were the whole package, but now that I have experience the whole package I can see you were nothing but a little boy. I don't know what I ever saw in you. I guess the only reason we even dated was because of Lilly and her schemes. She wanted Logan and she knew he wanted me, so to solve her problem she set us up. I never loved you, so move on. I would be worry about my future if I were you because it is going to change very soon," Veronica says before shoving past both a frightened Cassidy and a perplexed Duncan.

"Remind me Bobcat never to get on your bad side," I say as I am driving home. Dick and Meg were catching a ride over from Mac.

"Don't worry I have no problem with reminding you of it. I just hope it gets me a pony," she says as we pull into our driveway.

"Wow, watch out peeps here comes IRON MIKE," Wallace says as we enter the house. Keith looks out the security room to see what the noise was.

"Please tell me there weren't any fights," he says as he looks Veronica over carefully.

"What am I chopped liver," I say as Veronica softly punches my arm.

"Well you aren't carrying my grandchild," Keith remarks as I solemnly nod my head. He was very right with that.

"Keith you should have seen it, Veronica laid into Duncan with everything she had," Dick says as he enters the house followed by Mac and Meg.

"I just told him how it was, gosh you guys make it sound like I beat him up," she mutters as she pulls a S'kist out of the fridge.

"You didn't see the look of shear dread on Duncan's face as you two drove off. He literally looked like he crapped himself," Dick remarks.

"Seriously you guys, I just told him to move on and to worry about his own life," Veronica says as I laugh. She sure did. We all settled into the library nook upstairs and worked on our homework together until dinner. Mac and Wallace left while I was helping Leo and Dick make dinner. Meg and Veronica were talking about baby stuff. It was hard to believe that we were expecting a little person.

"You were quite at dinner," Veronica says as we climb into bed.

"I was thinking about our baby," I say looking up at the ceiling.

"Do you do that a lot?" she questions as I turn to face her.

"No, but listening to you and Meg talk about the babies made me think about it. I was wondering what kind of a father I am going to be. I don't have a good father figure to look back on," I mutter thinking about Aaron who was currently rotting away in jail awaiting his trial.

"Well if we are being honest I have thought about what kind of a mother I would be. I mean Logan my mom cheated on my dad, and ran off. We both have a screwed up parent, but we can be better than them. We can show our little baby how much they are loved and cherished," she says as I kiss her nose.

"Yes, we can," I say softly as she snuggles up to me. I lay there for a while longer thinking over her words and finally let myself drift off to sleep dreaming about a little blonde haired blue eyed baby that looked just like her mother.


	6. Bold Moves

Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured

Chapter 6: Bold Moves

**Veronica**

"Turn the damn alarm clock off," I snap as I hear this continuous banging sound followed by the doorbell ringing.

"Someone get the damn door," Logan yells from beside me as he pulls the pillow closer to cover his head with it.

"What the heck do you think you are doing? You can't just barge in like you own the place," I hear Dick say as I hear stomping on the stairs.

"Veronica Mars, you are under arrest," Sherriff Lamb sneers toward me as I look to our bedroom entry way where he stood.

"What the hell?" Logan snaps as he scrambles out of bed. "You can't just barge into our home throwing that kind of crap out," he yells as I see my dad coming in followed by Leo.

"Don, would you please move out of my daughter's room?" my dad says as he nudges his way closer.

"You know the rules; I think she might be a flight risk. I need to stand here and watch her like a hawk," he smirks as I pull the covers closer to cover my body. Logan had already gone into the closet and pulled out a sweatshirt and some yoga pants for me to put on. He passes them off as I slip them under the covers and dress

"Veronica, don't say a word to them without Cliff," my dad says as Lamb jerks me up out of the bed enjoying this way too much. I walk pass Meg who just looked like she was on the verge of tears. Logan is pulling on his shoes following closely behind us. When we get out of the house I see Sacs waiting beside the patrol car for us with the door open.

The drive to the Sheriff's station seemed like it was taking forever, but I wasn't prepared for the fan fair that was waiting for us when Lamb pulled up in front of the station. There was a news crew and reporters lining the walk way as he opened the door for me pulling me out sharply as I almost fall forward.

"Sheriff is that the murderer of Curly Moran," someone yells out as he pauses a moment for the reporters to all get a good look at me. One lady put her microphone down and shook her head.

"Are you telling us that she murdered the stunt coordinator? Veronica Mars the girl who just got out of a coma," she calls out as Lamb must feel like this isn't going his way pulls me into the station. I see Weevil sitting on one of the benches as we enter. He looks over at me puzzled as Lamb pulls me into a conference room.

"Are you going to tell me why you woke me up and hauled me in here without plausible cause?" I demand as the door opens and Cliff comes in half awake, but carrying a styrofoam cup with him.

"Whatever my client said was said without counsel," he says giving me a pointed look as he hands me the cup. "Don for God's sake uncuff her," he demands as he sees the cuffs still on my wrists.

"I'm in charge here," Lamb snaps as he does uncuff me but leaves the cuffs on the table. "Your client is linked to an unsolved murder of a stunt coordinator," he snaps and he slams his hand on the table making me jump a little.

"My client has been out of the hospital for maybe three days tops, and you are sitting there accusing her of murder. That doesn't sound too well for you," Cliff says as Lamb looks a little pale.

"Well she seems to have a connection with the deceased," he snaps as he shoves a file in front of me. Cliff opens it up as I see the mug shot of the deceased, but I didn't know him. I flip the page to see what Lamb thought was his big murderer idea. My name was written on the deceased man's hand. The only link he had was my name with the man. Cliff looks over at me as I shrug my shoulders.

"I don't know what your damn issue is Don, but you have no case here. I want you to stay away from my client or I will be hand delivering a restraining order on you," Cliff says as he motions for me to follow him.

"I don't think so, Mars sit down," he snaps as I hear some noise coming from outside.

"I think my husband has finally showed up," I smirk as Lamb looks over at me questionably. "Right," I smile as the door opens roughly slamming against the wall. "Lamb, my husband Logan Echolls," I say as Logan motions for me.

"I haven't released her," Lamb says as I see another man enter the room.

"Sheriff," the man says as he dips his head.

"Mayor, I didn't know you were in today," Lamb says as he stands up.

"Yes, anyway, Mr. Mars here has provided security footage of Mrs. Echolls and her friends for the last week. I might also remind you she was in the hospital up until a few days ago. Next time call and ask for her to come in. There was no reason for you to barge into their home," the Mayor says as Logan finally pulls me into his arms.

"I mean it, Lamb stay away from my client," Cliff says as we exit the conference room. "Alright, I think we should take our leave before Don decides to take a difference course of action," he replies as I am now being pulled by Logan who stops in his tracks as the reporters are right outside the front doors.

"Crap," he snaps as he runs a hand through his hair. He pulls my hood up on my sweatshirt and intertwines his fingers with mine. "Veronica no matter what do not let go," he softly say as he pulls me close to his body.

"Did you come to see your father?" one lady yells out as she shoves into him.

"Is this the murderer?" another lady calls out as she is trying to move closer.

"Where are you going Logan?" a man with a camera yells as Logan pushes past him.

"Are you lying about the abuse you claim to have suffered at Aaron Echolls hands?" a man says as we are just about ot pass him. Logan stops dead in his tracks as he stares at the man.

"Where the hell did you hear that?" Logan demands as I tighten my grasp on his hand.

"Does it matter?" the man snickers as the other press seems to be focused on the two of them now.

"Who told you?" Logan snaps as he moves closer to the man.

"Is it true you are lying about the whole issue to cover up the scandal of you murdering your ex-girlfriend?" the man leers at Logan who is moving to jump him when I pull him with all my might.

"Let me go," he snaps at me as he goes to jerk his hand away from mine, but I hold my ground. He looks down at me as I use my other hand to uncover my head as I see the flashes going off.

"We're in this together," I say softly as he peers more intensively at me as if he was trying to decide what was more important.

"You're right," he mutters as if he was still struggling to stay I control of his anger. I don't know where the heck Leo was, but he decides to push us toward the waiting black Range Rover. Logan holds the door open for me as he looks back at the man who was questioning him. I held his hand firmly as he tries to get loose.

"Logan," I murmur as he looks back at me with a sigh as he gets in looking defeated. I don't know what was going on in his head, but I knew he wasn't fully here with me. I move closer to him as I try to think of what to do. The baby decides at that moment to move. I take the hand I was holding and place it where the baby kicked.

"What," he replies softly as if he was just waking up. I see a flicker of realization flash across his face as he looks down at my belly.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I was so disgusted with the man who was questioning me about Aaron that I could punch a wall or even his face, but Veronica wouldn't let me go. I was a little pissed that she decided now was the time to actually listen to something I asked her to do. I got her into the Range Rover intent on going after the man, but she wouldn't let me go still. It was as if she knew what I was thinking.

I was staring out the window as I tried to figure out how the man got the info he had. I only told a few people and that was in privacy. I was battling on what to do as I felt Veronica move closer to me, but paid no attention to it. It wasn't until I felt a sharp kick on my hand as I realized where my hand was.

"What?" I questioned as I looked down at her hand holding mine on her stomach. Our baby just moved, I felt our baby move. I looked up at her face and the only emotion on it was love. I didn't understand how in the world I got so lucky with her.

"Wow," she murmurs as I move my hand trying to feel the baby once again.

"Was that the first time?" I asked as I saw her look away from me.

"No, it was right before I placed your hand on," she says softly as I give her a smile. I pull her to me as Leo is pulling the Ranger Rover through the gates. I could see Mac and Wallace standing outside with Dick as we pulled up in front of the house.

"Wow, little Ronnie life of crime," Dick says as Mac hits him on the shoulder.

"Dick," everyone says as he just shrugs his shoulders.

"Come on, it was bound to happen with her hanging around Logan all the time," he jokes as I hit him this time. We were making it a habit of not going to school, but I knew tomorrow Keith would make sure each of us was there personally if he had to. I could see the worry etched in his eyes each time I caught him looking at Veronica or me. I knew this was hard for him, but I hoped it wouldn't prove too much for him as well.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Come on sleepyhead," Veronica is whispering into my ear as I swat at her to go away. "Logan, feel," she snaps lightly as I look up at her. She is sitting up in the bed with her hands on her stomach. I finally realized what she wanted me to do as I placed my hand on her small bump. The baby was moving, and kicking lightly.

"Has she been doing this long?" I questioned as she raised her eyebrows at my assumption that the baby would be a girl.

"She," she asks with a small smile.

"Well I think I could deal better with a little girl," I say thinking about how screwed up Aaron was to me. I couldn't lay a hand on a girl, but I was worried if I had a boy I might be like him.

"Logan you are nothing like Aaron. I know you would love your child no matter what she or he may be," Veronica says very reassuringly to me.

"Would you make me a promise?" I ask as I think of what I want to say.

"Um, depends," she says as she seems to ponder what I might be going to say.

"Promise me that if I ever hit you," she stops me by placing her hand over my mouth.

"No, I won't promise you anything like that," she mutters as now our conversation is getting to a place where she doesn't want to go.

"Please, hear me out," I say pleadingly. She shakes her head.

"I don't care what Aaron did to you. You are a better husband than he ever was. You have never raised your hand to me or any of our girl friends. I know you will be a great dad because you have so much love in your heart bursting to shower someone with," she says as I am caught off guard by her words. She has a few tears slipping down her cheeks.

"You put way too much faith in me," I mutter as she brushes the stray tears from under my eyes.

"No, I see how much you love and cherish me. This baby we are going to have is part me. I know deep down you will do whatever it takes to keep our child safe. So, no I will not make any promises in relation to leaving you or anything else along those lines," she says as she leans closer to me. I can't help it as I pull her to me wanting to wrap my arms around her.

"I love you," I whisper into her hair as I snuggle my neck in the crook of her neck.

"I love you as well, always and forever," Veronica says as she relaxes in my arms. I move on of my hands to rest on her little bump as the baby moves every once and a while. The love I felt and sincere honesty of Veronica's words eased the ache I had been feeling without even thinking of it. Yes, I would have to trust that Veronica would stand by me no matter what came our way.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Morning," I whisper into Veronica's hair as she begins to stir slowly.

"Logan," she mutters as she takes in my appearance. I had gotten up right before dawn to surf with Dick. I then took a shower and got dressed. "I wanted to take a shower together," she mutters in my direction as I chuckle while she stretches before tossing the covers off of her body. She was so beautiful. She had on a pair of my boxers and a camisole. Her little baby bump was barely noticeable unless you looked at her hard sideways, you couldn't really see it from the front.

"Dad has made pancakes," I say as she mutters some very unlady like words before heading into our bathroom to freshen up. I headed back downstairs to keep her from getting waylaid with other ideas.

"Is monster out of bed?" Dick asks as I give him a look.

"Veronica wouldn't like hearing you call her names," Meg says as I nudge Dick hard.

"Right, last night she was making some crazy ass noises," he muttered. I looked up at him really unsure if he was seriously talking about Veronica like that.

"Richard, that was Backup," Keith says as he reenters the kitchen with a dog bowl. "Leo put him in the dog cage, and he wasn't too thrilled by that," he finishes as I see Veronica coming down the stairs.

"Why was he in the cage?" I asked as Leo walks in with Backup on a leash.

"He was digging out of the backyard," Leo says as Veronica reaches down to free her dog.

"Well why wasn't he in the house. I mean this is his home as well," she says as he rests at her feet while she sits down on the stool next to me.

"We were running some scenarios and had the doors opened. I didn't want him to wander off or get loose," Leo says as that made sense.

"Next time bring him up to our room," she says as I watch her pile her plate up with several good sized pancakes, before drizzling the whole pile with syrup. I didn't know how she wasn't twice her size by now.

"You guys have 15 minutes before I expect all of you, and I mean all of you headed for school. You know the place where you get an education," Keith says as he comes back into the kitchen area wearing a suit and tie.

"Dad, that is your dating suit," Veronica says as I place her empty plate in the sink.

"No, this is my work suit," he says as he quickly disappears before she could get a chance to question him more.

"My dad is up to something," she mutters as we get in the back of the Range Rover.

"Ronnie, let it go," Dick says as he turns the radio on cutting off her discussion once more. She gives him the dirtiest look I didn't know she even had. As we pulled into the parking lot I could see several paparazzi staking out the entry way for anyone who wanted to speak with them.

"What the heck?" Meg says as Dick moves through the gate that now has several security guards checking our ID's to make sure we were students.

"What's going on?" Dick asks as the guard passes his ID back t him.

"Reporters trying to sneak on campus," he replies as he waves us through. Dick parks in a spot next to Mac's green beetle. She was standing beside it talking with Wallace as we got out of the Range Rover.

"We saw your new friends," Wallace smirks as Veronica nudges him. "What took you guys so long anyway?" he continues as everyone points to Veronica who points to Dick.

"Dick drives like an old lady," she mutters as I laugh at her words.

"Come one, Ronnie," Dick whines as Mac laughs. "Don't be that way," he continues as she chuckles softly next to me.

"Awe, look who we have here; a murderer and a murderer's child," Beaver smirks as I see Dick tense up at his words.

"Beaver," Dick warns as I see Duncan moving closer to our little group.

"Dk, the murderers have returned," Beaver sneers toward us, but the look on Duncan's face told a different story. He looked like he had lost his best friend as he walked away from us. I watched him go feeling slightly guilty, but unsure as to why.

"I'll see you later, Dick," I mutter as I kiss Veronica and look over to my friend as he seems to want to hurt his little brother.

"Right, I'll take care of the she devil," he snickers as I see Veronica swat at his arm before heading off after Duncan. I got to the Journalism room where he was sitting with his back to the door.

"Not the person I thought would come, but whatever," he mutters not looking up from his screen. It was playing the video from the station the day before.

"What are you doing?" I question as he turns up the volume,and I hear the question that ticked me off yesterday.

"Lilly should have known, hell I should have known," he murmurs agitated. "Do you think that's why he hurt her?" he questions, but I don't really have the answer to it.

"No, I think he killed Lilly truly over the tapes. Duncan I don't know why Aaron did the things he did, but this is all on him. He was the asphat," I say as Duncan stands up turning to look at me.

"Veronica knew last year, before everything went down," he asks as if he already knew the answer to his very question.

"My mom left her the information before she died, Veronica didn't know everything until she saw it firsthand. Duncan, it doesn't even matter. Aaron is going to get his just desserts. I just needed to make sure he didn't get out," I say as I see a glimmer of my old friend before he shuts me out once more as he walks out of the room. I watch as I just can't shake the feeling something was going to happen.

"Where did you disappear to this morning," Veronica says as she comes up beside me after second period.

"I went after Duncan, but it was a wash," I mutter as I give her a kiss to the forehead. We head to our next class just as the bell rings. I had Ms. Navarro make us lunch today so I didn't need to order anything special. I was thinking about what to do about Duncan the majority of class, and was distracted when the bell rang.

I notice that Veronica seems a little distracted as we are walking to Pope's for our FBLA, "Hey, what's on your mind?" I ask as she looks up from the book in her hand.

"Just...fine European automobiles," she says as I give her a questionable look.

"Are you hinting at something?" I question as she laughs, but shakes her head. "Sweetie really, when have you ever known about fine European cars? Well besides when Lilly took you to that fleet week a few years ago," I say as she laughs even more.

"Well darling lover, ever since I became a Future Business Leader of America," she replies smiling at me wickedly. I can't help but laugh at her words as we enter Pope's room. I find Duncan sitting on the far side of the room, but he gets up and gestures for us to sit in the only two open sits.

"I think you all should be happy. Today you are worth exactly one million dollars," Mr. Pope says with a genuine smile on his face.

"What?" I snap mockingly as Veronica nudges me to behave. "You mean I've lost money? Veronica darling I promise you heads will roll," I joke as I toss a piece of homemade tortilla in my mouth.

"Thank Mr. Echolls I'll make sure your account meets with mine later," he says as he shakes his head before moving back to the front of the room to continue his speech, "I assume that you have all heard about my stock market game, in fact, I think many of you have played before. Over the course of the school year, each club member will control a virtual portfolio. Now, you may invest your money any way you see fit, as long as it's legal," he says looking directly at Dick before pointing at him as well.

"Seriously dude, dog racing is totally legal," he mutters as he snatches a piece of Ms. Navarro's to die for Chocolate cake.

"Yes, but, hardly lucrative. May I remind you of your stock performance last year," he asks as I laugh because Dick actually lost not only fake money, but a nice size of recall money as well. "I will also like to say the student with the most profitable holdings at the closing bell on June 1st will claim all bragging rights," he says as he goes into a power point presentation of his own stock market graphs. I could tell he was a pretty smart investor. He taps on the screen to show his own investment for this year.

"Wow. Well, what'd you invest in, Mr. Pope?" Beaver asks as he shows the profits he'll be making at the end of the investment cycle.

"Well, take a look," he says as he pulls up his current portfolio. "I haven't made any changes since last year. I tend to be more conservative than the majority of my students, since I use this same model for my personal 401(k)," he replies as I still have a shaky feeling about the fact that most of his money was invested in Dick's dad's business.

"How much real money did you make?" Duncan asks as I look over at him.

"Well actually enough to retire in exactly nine months," Mr. Pope says as he shows the amount of returns Casablancas, Inc. pulled in.

"My old man's pulling in 35% returns? Teacher man, I'm the one that's retiring," Dick smirks as he gives a crazy gesture toward Beaver who gives him the flip.

"Right, I'll alert the dog track that you'll be hitting the sandy beaches instead of the track," Mr. Pope replies playing the groovy teacher role a little too well. The class erupts into laughter at his words while Dick gives him a pointed look.  
>"Yet, like I was saying as for myself, at the end of this year, I'll be hanging up my teaching hat, and literally, sailing off into the sunset," he says with a smile on his face as he points to a picture of a sailboat on the broad behind his desk.<p>

"Wow, that's a pretty cool boat," Duncan says eyeing the actual picture as if he was trying to figure out which boat it was. Duncan was an actual sailor so he would probably know it better than anyone else. "Is that a Swan 40," he asks as he looks back at the picture.

"Yeah an original from 1971, I would have retired earlier, but the restoration of the hull has been tricky, I needed to redo it twice before it was correctly done," Mr. Pope says with a gleeful expression.

"Didn't figure know how to do it right, so you had to take a second chance?" Duncan says as I look over at him. He is staring oddly right at Veronica, but his words mean more to me as I shoot out of my desk and right at him, just as the realization hits Veronica. Dick holds her tightly to keep her from interfering.

Duncan has managed to get us out the door as he is shoving me into the lockers while I am trying to beat him off of me. I hit him and try to twist out of his grasp to no use. He has his arms tightly around my side shoving and kicking me hard. I finally start pounding into him with my fists trying to get him to release me as he clocks the blows. I feel two arms jerking me away from him as Leo steps in between the two of us shoving me roughly into the wall

"What the hell is your damn issue?" he snaps as I see Duncan being held off my Mr. Pope. Leo leads the two of us to the nurse's office. Duncan is seated on a cot while I sit on the end of a old exam bed. I could feel my knuckles swearing with pain as I flex my fingers. I took a good look at Duncan to see his bloodied nose, and swelling to his left eye.

"Well, I can say one thing: I don't think whoever it is you're fighting over, she won't be very impressed by this," the nurse says as she finishes bandaging up Duncan's hand while looking over his eye. She walks out of the room after telling Duncan the Principal was waiting for him. He was about out the door when he turns around to look at me.

"Actually, I might have to disagree with the nurse, I think Veronica might have been impressed," Duncan mutters at me as I take a deep breath to stay calm. "She might even have been a little turned on as well," he says darkly turning to give me a smirk.

"I would watch it Duncan. You're exposing yourself for another beat down. I mean you were the one who let her go," I snap as I am starting to get pissed.

"Another beat down. I am rock-hard. I could take you in my sleep," he mutters as I laugh because this was Duncan. I was surprised he actually did well in our fight to begin with.

"You lost her; I didn't steal her. Veronica isn't a toy we can fight over. She is my wife," I say as I jump off the end of the exam table ready for another fight.

"Hell with Veronica Mars right now. I wish you had chosen me. I mean I could have used you this summer. Where were you this summer, man?" he snaps as he comes up to square off with me once again.

"What do you mean? I was there for you, but you didn't want my help. We were all there for you, but your need to get even took control over our friendship," I tell him as he glares at me with seething hatred.

"I was accused of murder in the eye of a storm, and you wanted to finally be a better person. It is a war out there, and you're on the sidelines hanging out with Veronica Mars and her friends? Do you remember when you had my back no matter what? I needed you to stand by me against the PCHers, but no," he roars at me.

"Yeah, wait, I do remember this summer. I learned that my ex-girlfriend was murdered by a jackass. My best friend disappears after being arrested, and then comes back like a raging pit bull ready to kill anyone in his path," I say coolly as I see him turn away from me.

"Yeah well I was trying to deal with this thing the best way I could. I mean how could I get past the fact that your father killed my sister, and then you were shaking up with Veronica when I thought she was my sister as well," Duncan says as he walks up close to me.

"The principal's waiting for you," the nurse says when she returns. Duncan is almost out the door when I find my voice.

"I hate him more than you could ever know," I softly say as I let a few tears fall. Duncan stops in midstride but doesn't turn around. I watch him as he sighs before leaving the room. Veronica enters shortly after followed by Keith. He didn't look too happy with me.

"Logan, what were you thinking," Veronica mutters as she sits down beside me watching as the nurse dresses my hand.

"I'm sorry," I murmur as I pull her close with my uninjured hand. Keith tells me I am suspended for one day, and grounded to the house for a week. He even said that meant no surfing at all. I looked at him like he had just stole the last cookie from me, but the amused expression on Veronica's face told me this was a big deal for him.

I had a hard time falling asleep as I thought about what Duncan had said. He was right though. I wasn't there for him. I thought back to see if I had fought harder could I have helped my friend be a better person. I would like to have said it would have made a difference, but I would never really know. I couldn't rewrite the past, but I can forge a new future.

'_DK, sorry about last summer' _I tested him as I got out of bed I was in the hallway when I felt my phone vibrate.

_Yeah, do you want to talk_-Duncan

'_I'm grounded, but maybe you can come over here_,' I send back.

_I don't think I have ever heard that from you. Grounding never stopped you before_-Duncan

'_Have you met Keith_,' I text back as I feel silly about my fear of my father in law.

_Actually, yeah I have. I'll come by your place around 10_.-Duncan

I head back to bed thinking that tomorrow might actually have a better outcome than today did. I was hoping Duncan would understand everything, but on the off chance he didn't I was going to have to prepare myself to lose my best friend for good. I decided to think of my future little girl as I finally fell asleep with Veronica in my arms right where she belonged.


	7. Chapter 7

Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured

Chapter 7: Promises & Surprises

**Keith**

I wasn't too thrilled about Logan getting into a fight with the Kane boy, but man I saw the look of frustration written all over Logan's face. I knew from the news, and what little I could get out of Sacks that Duncan was having just as rough time with all that was going on like Logan, but he didn't really have the support he needed.

"Logan," I say as I see the figure coming into the house from the porch. He looked up at me with those huge brown eyes that I couldn't see how Lynn could leave him. He truly was somewhat of a lost boy.

"I was on the phone," he mutters as I nod my head.

"I know, you know what you did yesterday wasn't the right way to handle the situation," I start as he nods his head. "I am not going to condone you getting into fights every time someone says something you don't like even if it happens to be about Veronica," I mutter as he looks up.

"I know. I was actually calling Duncan. He is going to come over here so we can talk," Logan says as I see he seems to still be keeping something back.

"Does Veronica know?" I question as I see his eyes look away from me. "Of course not," I mutter when he doesn't answer.

"Veronica would want me to man up, but Duncan was talking about her like she was so trickster yesterday. I lost it, I probably don't hold much innocence in the way she was treated, but I care deeply for her," he seems to be struggling as I sit down beside him.

"Logan stop doubting yourself. Veronica knows the person you were back then isn't the same person you are right now. She trusts you to come to her, and hopefully she would come to you when she needs your reassurance. Just trust her to help you through whatever your going through," I say trying to remmebr the man who raised him hurt him more than what the eye could see.

"I asked her to leave me," he mutters as I drop my cup onto the counter at a loss for words. What the hell was this kid thinking?

"What?" I snap as I gather up the cup to get a fresh one.

"We were talking and I asked her if I ever…" he stops talking and looks up at me. I could only think of one way his thoughts were going and I know now why he was struggling.

"Look at me, Logan you are a better man than what Aaron Echolls is. I know he is your father, but you are the one who decides how to live your life from this point forward," I say as he nods his head.

"But would you," he stutters as I look for the words to show him everything would be alright.

"How did you feel yesterday when Duncan was talking about Veronica?" I ask as he clinches his fists.

"I was livid. I couldn't imagine someone who knew her talking like her as if she wasn't there. It hurt to know he thought so little of her. I wanted to protect her," he says as he seems to be letting his own words sink in.

"Right, you thought of nothing else but wanting to protect her, I can only imagine what you might be thinking about, but stop. You have Veronica, Dick, Meg, Mac and the rest as well as me to keep you on the right path. You are not Aaron Echolls!" I say as I move closer to stand in front of him. "You are a loving, caring husband who would do anything to protect those you love. You need to stop stressing over turning into your… Um, Aaron because we won't let you," I say as he smiles at me.

"Thanks. Veronica told me the same thing the other night, but I guess thinking about wanting to protect her is what is holding me together right now," he says as I smile.

"You're doing a fine job, just remember to feed her or we might have an issue or two," I say as I hear a grumble from behind me.

"Dad," Veronica mutters as she swats at me. "Logan makes sure to feed me. He doesn't let me have ice cream for dinner," she says as she leans into Logan. I watch as he wraps his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him. Yes, he would be fine.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

"What time did you wake up?" Veronica asks as I fry up some bacon for her.

"I woke up around 4ish," I say as I stir the pancake batter.

"Was it a bad dream?" she asks softly as I shake my head.

"No, I was thinking about how to be a better person," I admit as I see her jerk her head up to look fully at me with a confused look.

"Logan I thought we covered this the other night," she says sighing loudly.

"Veronica we did, but I still want to strive to be a better husband and very soon a father," I say as I move around the counter to stand in front of her. "I know you think I'll never turn into Aaron, but I still need to be able to grow into the person I want to be. I want to give you the world, and protect you from the dangers that are everywhere. Then when our child is born I want to be the one to kiss her goodnight, to teach her to surf and to be the role model she needs to become the person she is meant to be," I say as I see a few tears creeping down her cheeks.

"We might be having a boy," she mutters as I wipe away the few stray tears.

"Yes, I know," I mutter trying to stay calm. I mean I never saw Aaron hurt Trina so I just assumed if I had a daughter I would treat her better than if I had a son. I was terrified of having a son and turning into Aaron.

"Don't worry about it," Veronica says softly as if she knew what was worrying me.

"Thank you," I say as I go back to the stove to cook her pancakes. We eat the breakfast pretty slowly as if neither of us wanted to end the calm before the storm. "I invited someone over to socialize with," I say low as I pick up her plat and silverware before she has a chance to argue.

"Okay which one of our friends," she asks with a smile.

"Du…." I say as I stuff a piece of pancake in my mouth muttering the ending of his name. She totally caught what I had said though.

"Are you out of your mind? He tried to murder you in front of our friends," she is half yelling and pacing at the same time as Keith sticks his head out of the security room before ducking back into the room.

"Chicken," I yell out as I hear a vague, 'your issue'. "Duncan just wants to talk. Veronica I think he just doesn't know how to handle the feelings he is dealing with. I mean you and I had each other to lean on. Duncan really doesn't have anyone," I say as I moved with her toward the living room.

"He had us, but he couldn't behave," she mutters as she drops down on the sofa mumbling under her breath.

"I know, believe me I know, but can we honestly without a doubt write him off totally as if we never knew him," I ask as she looks at me with a semi softer expression.

"He chose to become the jerk he is right now. Logan have you forgotten how he is treating Meg. Meg is carrying his baby and he just upped and dumped her thinking I would go right back to him once we found out we weren't related," she argues as I see her reasoning, but still hope there was a chance to bring Duncan back from the grave.

"Veronica I know all that, but this is Duncan. He was your friend once upon a time. I know things are rough with Meg and him, but Meg needs him just as much as I need you. I just can't sit back any longer and watch him self destruct if it could be prevented," I say as I see her flinch away from me as I notice Meg standing at the entrance way of the living room.

"Logan you didn't tell him did you," Meg mutters as I stand up to meet her half way.

"No, of course not Duncan is coming over to talk with me about our issues. I am hoping to put his mind at ease with Veronica and me once and for all, but you know how hard headed he is," I mutter as she sits down beside of Veronica. Great both of them were against me in this.

"Let me know when you're done talking," Meg says as she gets back up and walks out of the room.

"Great, I just upset her," I mutter as I flop down on the sofa where she was just sitting.

"It's a lot to take in. I think you're right though. Duncan does need help, but do you think we are able to handle it," Veronica asks as I play with a strand of her hair as she leans against my shoulder.

"I hope so," I say as I hear the doorbell ring.

"Well it's time to find out," she mumbles as I get up to answer the door.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I wanted to go back to bed, but as I watched Logan get up to answer the door I knew I couldn't abandon him on his quest. I wasn't sure if Duncan would talk at all or just punch and then make excuses, but I was about to find out when I saw him heading toward me with Logan trailing behind him.

"Veronica," Duncan says surprised when I stand up as Logan quickly moves around Duncan to my side.

"Did you want to lie down or hangout upstairs?" he questions softly as I look up at him.

"No, I was just moving down on the couch," I admit as I sit on the far end of the couch as he relaxes a little and sits down beside of me. Duncan unsure of what to do sits in the chair near the living room entrance.

"So, you two are…" Duncan stops and looks down at his hands as if he was trying to think of something more to say, but then he just looks up.

"We're doing well," I say as I squeeze Logan's hand reassuring him that I was there for him all the way.

"Anyway, I wanted to meet with you Duncan because I don't want our friendship to end like it meant nothing," Logan says as he turns slightly on the sofa to look more closely at Duncan.

"Yeah, neither do I, but I can't…" he pauses yet again as he looks directly at me.

"Duncan I love Logan 100%, I will not be leaving him anytime in the near future," I finally say as I see his eyes close tightly before he reopens them.

"Why not?" he snaps as I can tell he isn't happy with my words.

"I can't," I finally say as I feel Logan wrap his arm around my hand in his lap.

"Duncan, Veronica and I got married and neither of us knew what that meant. I mean her mom left her for your, well for another man. I parents well they didn't work out, but we don't want to be like our parents. No we want our love to survive where there's failed," he says as I kiss the side of his cheek.

"I just see why you have to have Veronica. Veronica was mine," he blurts out as he stands abruptly. Logan is up and standing in front of me.

"I can't believe you are such an ass," I hear a voice from behind Duncan. He turns to see who said it. Meg was standing there with her hands on her sides. She looked a little ticked off.

"What the hell?" Duncan snaps as he sees her small but protruding stomach.

"Oh this," she waves to her stomach as she moves into the room where he could get a better look. "Some jerk knocked me up and then dumped me for his former girlfriend," she says as Logan moves so she could sit beside me.

"No, no way…" Duncan stumbles out as he just looks at Meg and her stomach.

"Yes, and before you even ask I was only with you," Meg snaps as she takes in his expression.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks bewildered.

"Um, let's see you were arrested for murder, and then you ended things with me. You wouldn't listen to reasoning and only wanted to light the candle with Veronica even though she told you she wasn't interested," Meg as she grasps my hand in her bringing it to her stomach as I feel a sharp kick.

"Mommy has an attitude little baby," I say as I kiss the spot where I felt the movement.

"I didn't know," Duncan mutters as he moves to come closer to us. He is standing in front of Meg as he drops to his knees. "I would have never left you if I had known," he says seriously as he begins to reach out to touch her but lets his hand drop to his knee instead.

"Duncan I will not be second best to you. I needed you and you left me high and dry. I don't know if I even want to be with you anymore," Meg says honestly as I watch Duncan stand up slowly before walking out of the room.

"Meg, seriously," I ask as I can see tears in her eyes. She was crying because to her once again Duncan wasn't choosing her. Logan gives in to the two of us as he lets us gorge on junk food and sappy chick flicks.

"I hope you kids did something more than lay around on the sofa watching TV and eating junk food," my dad says as he enters the house carrying a small box.

"Is it a pony?" I question as Logan chuckles seeing my expression to the furry head popping out of the box.

"No, it's a puppy of course," my dad says shaking his head.

"Don't worry Bobcat. I'll get you a pony as soon as we have a place of our own," Logan whispers seductively into my ear.

"Never going to happen, Echolls, my daughter and grandchild will live here till I die," he says as Meg laughs along with the light hearted humor. My dad put the box down as a small fluffy tan colored dog jumps out of the box.

"It's a fluffy pillow of fur," I hear Dick's voice for the first time all day.

"No Dick it's a Cocker Spaniel," Logan says as the room busts out in full fledged laughter. "Right, I forgot," he mutters as Dick continues to laugh as Mac just shakes her head at his maturity level. I headed into the kitchen to get something while the rest of the gang continued to debate over the new addition to our family as a knock on the front door changed my direction.

"Yes," I say as I open the door to see the last person I thought would be back.

"Veronica, can I come in," Duncan says softly as he gestures to the door that I had firmly kept half closed.

"Um, sure," I say as I open the door all the way. Duncan moves into the entryway just as the new puppy comes bounding into the entryway.

"Vee, make sure to close the door," Logan is yelling out as he comes chasing after the wayward dog. "Duncan," he says as I step to the side and picking up the dog.

"I just came to talk with Meg," he says as I see that my dad and Dick have joined us in the kitchen area. "Mr. Mars, Dick," he says as he moves closer to the living room.

"Duncan," Meg says surprised as we all followed.

"I can't stand by any longer and watch from the sidelines. Meg I want to be a part of this child's life. I want to be a better parent than what my parents have been. I choose you, I choose our child over everything else," he says as I see him hold out something to her. I hadn't even noticed him carrying the papers when I opened the door to him.

"What are these papers?" she asks.

"Look them over," he says as I watch her flip through them slowly before dropping them totally and flinging herself at Duncan.

"Well what the hell," Dick snaps as he takes in the strange event taking place in front of us. "What the hell did he give you Meg?" Dick snaps slightly louder than he should have.

"It wasn't what he gave me, more what he asked me," she says as she looks toward us confusion covering most of our faces.

"I asked her to allow me to make it up to her, by setting up a trust fund for our child. I want to be the father I never had," he says softly as I look over to Logan who knew more than any of us what that was like. I bent down to pick up one of the papers as I read the words on it, '_**Will you marry me!**_' was written in the center of the page.

Meg and Duncan had gone out on the back porch to talk. I knew deep down that Meg wouldn't forgive and forget so easily, but Duncan was making the right gesture to rekindle if he was willing to do it. Logan and I excused ourselves to our room with our new little puppy much to everyone's unhappiness. Mac wanted the puppy and Dick wanted to name it, but I got lucky when my dad nixed all of them.

"I guess starting out with a puppy will help us be better parents," Logan says softly as I see him rubbing the puppy's head softly.

"Shit!" I exclaim as I realize just what my dad was up to. Of course Logan would figure it out before I would, but man did he have to see it as oblivious as I hadn't even thought of it like that.

"Veronica," he softly asks wondering if something was wrong.

"I think that is actually what my dad is doing. He is giving us a life lesson without actually explaining it to us," I say as he chuckles.

"I was just joking, but yeah he was pretty adamant that the puppy was all ours," Logan smirks as I laugh. "There might be getting a second one if Duncan and Meg stay together. Good god your dad has a very unique way of teaching lessons. Aaron would have beaten me half to death or might have even killed me," Logan says as his mood turns dark for a moment.

"Hey, that will never happen. You are safe here with me and our mismatched crew," I say as the puppy licks at our faces as Logan leans in for a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Ah the ever young one is already proving to be a cock blocker," Logan jokes as he swats playfully at the rambunctious ball of fur. "I could totally see your dad getting this little pesky thing to keep us away from each other," he half mutters as he strokes the fur ball.

"Yeah, I bet he could shot himself for not thinking of this sooner," I laugh as we both lie back on the bed with the puppy in between the two of us.

"Do you have any names picked out?" he asked as I was wondering if he meant for the puppy or our baby.

"I don't know, it's not a man killer for sure," I joke as he laughs.

"No, she isn't one of those. I don't think she'll ever be a mean old dog," he baby talks her as she licks him.

"What about Polly or Rosa," I ask as he gives me a small smile.

"I would love a normal name like Sammy, but that seems more for a boy. Do you like Polly or Rosa?" he asks the puppy as she begins to jump at his hand that was mid air when he says Rosa. "Alright then, we have a keeper," he says picking her up. "You actually look like a Rosa," he says kissing her nose before sitting back against the headboard.

"Aren't you even wondering where I came up with the names?" I questioned as the puppy was calmly lying on his chest.

"I am actually interested in knowing, but hoping that it wasn't some mundane answer that I should know," he says softly as I move closer to him.

"No, I was actually going through PI terminology for a name," I say as he gives me a puzzled look. "I named Backup because my dad was Sherriff at the time, well dad is a PI now so," I say as he laughs.

"You are not naming our child if you go picking out names like that. We might end up with a Surveillance or Spy Echolls. No way," he says as he starts laughing. I nudge him softly to stop him as he rolls over causing Rosa to bark at him for disturbing her sleep. "Sorry sweetie," he coos at her as he lays back down.

"Right, funny," I say giving him a hard laugh before turning serious. "No, I haven't thought too much on that name just yet. I was thinking along the lines of Polygraph for Polly and Sub Rosa for Rosa," I admit as he smiles.

"I totally know what a polygraph is, but what is sub rosa," asks as I laugh when I think up the actual definition.

"Sub Rosa means an injury related surveillance or investigation," I say hoping I got it right. I watch him pick up Rosa and study her carefully before nodding his head.

"Yes, she seems like a little injury investigation," he chuckles as I swat at him while he gets out of bed with the puppy and heads toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I mutter as he totally gets serious.

"I do think this little Rosa needs to do some investigation outside before she does her business in our room," he replies as I totally understand what he means. I forgot she wasn't potty trained just yet.

"Okay, let's go," I say as I get out of bed and grab his free hand as we head downstairs.

"Finally, you dog hogs," Dick says as he takes the puppy from us.

"Dick," Logan starts but stops once Dick squeezes the puppy.

"Oh shit, damn it," Dick mutters loudly as he turns back toward us holding Rosa out from his body, but it was clear as day. Rosa no longer needed to do her investigating. She found the spot to do her releasing.

"I tried to warn you," Logan says trying so hard to keep from laughing, but the look on my dad's face when he came in from the back door at our little scene made him crack up.

"Well I guess I don't need to remind you two teens that puppy's tend to need more outside breaks than normal," he says looking from Dick back out the door as he exits. Dick quickly passes Rosa back to Logan who hands her off to me before as we watch Dick head upstairs.

"Good girl," I say softly as I pat her on the head while she licks my face.

"Veronica," Logan retorts smiling as we walk out the door to join our family and watch a playful puppy chase after Backup in the now fenced in area.


	8. Chapter 8

Shattered, Forgotten and Treasured

Chapter 8: Pool, juice and conversation

**Logan**

Nothing meant more to me than to lay next to the one person who meant the world to me, but the noise downstairs was becoming louder and louder. I didn't want it waking Veronica up so I ventured out of my nice warm bed to see who the heck was disturbing my peace.

"It woke you up as well," Keith asks as he stands at the top of the stairs looking down.

"Yeah," I muttered as honest as I could be at the racket. I was surprised it hadn't woken up the whole house.

"It's Duncan and Meg," Keith says as I begin to make my way down the stairs hoping he was following me, but no he hadn't.

"It's 4 in the morning DK, this better be damn good," I snap as they both turn around to look at me surprised that anyone was up at all.

"Logan just go back to bed, Meg isn't thinking clearly right now," Duncan mutters throwing his hands up in the air. I looked from him to her. Meg looked like she was on the verge of crying.

"Are you alright, Meg," I questioned as she looked past Duncan to where I was standing.

"Yeah, Duncan is leaving," she says softly as Duncan turns to make his way toward her, but I jumped in between them before he could get to her.

"Like hell I'm leaving. I don't want you staying here any longer. I want you to stay with me at the Grand," he mutters as she just wraps her arms around herself.

"I already told you 'no' to that idea. I am staying right here," she replies as he begins to pace.

"Why the hell not?" he questions snapping at her.

"I will not stay with you unless I know for sure you are in this for the duration of the pregnancy. Duncan you broke up with me once you found out Veronica was no longer your sister. I don't want you hurting me again," she says softly as I understand her reasoning.

"I told you I was sorry," Duncan snaps as he pushes me slightly to get to Meg, but I held my ground.

"I think you should leave," I finally say as he looks up at me.

"Why?" he snaps.

"I think Logan is right," I hear the voice of the one person I was hoping wouldn't wake up.

"If it isn't Veronica Mars!" Duncan snaps as he turns to face her.

"It's Echolls, Duncan. I have told you that more than once," she says as she walks into the living room where we had moved during the conversation.

"I want Meg to leave with me!" he yells once more.

"Duncan, Meg isn't going anywhere with you until you clean up your attitude. I know you want her to, but the reality of it is you need to wait for her to decide to leave. Just because you apologize and ask her to marry you doesn't fix the way you treated her," Veronica says as she moves a little closer to us.

"I don't understand. I just don't get why girls can't move past issues like this," he snaps as he pushes past Veronica, and out the front door slamming it hard as he leaves.

"I'm sorry our argument woke you guys," Meg says as Veronica collapses on the couch beside her.

"Hey don't do that," Veronica says as she wraps an arm around Meg.

"Veronica is right, don't let his actions and words beat you down," I say as I sit down beside of Veronica.

"Do you girls want to head up to get more sleep?" I question as Meg looks toward me while Veronica just rubs her stomach.

"Sure, but Meg is staying with us," Veronica replies as I give them both a hand to help them up. As we are walking toward the stairs I lock the front door and set the alarm. I didn't want Duncan coming back and entering the house without us knowing.

Meg got in Veronica's spot on the big bed while Veronica got in on my side. She moved toward the middle of the bed as I got back in. I looked over to the clock near the TV as I saw the moonlight entering the room.

"Thank you," I heard Meg whisper in the darkness as I felt Veronica snuggling into my side.

"It's no problem," she replies as I feel Meg moving closer as well.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I wake up and find Dick has joined us," I joke as both girls laugh.

"Please don't tempt fate," Veronica says softly as I look toward the bedroom door to see Keith standing in the shadow nodding his head. I closed my eyes and fell back to sleep.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I was upset that Duncan was being rude to Meg, but I was glad she had stood her ground even if she needed some help in doing so. I had somehow wiggled my way out of bed at 7. I was stuck between Meg and Logan, not that I am complaining or anything.

"Hey dad," I say as I sit down on one of the stools.

"I thought you might sleep in longer," he says as he sips his coffee.

"Why?" I question as I notice his downcast eyes. "Dad, why didn't you throw Duncan out," I half whine as I notice he knows why I was asking him it.

"I didn't want to be the bad guy after all," he jokes as I just shake my head.

"No, really I thought you thrived on throwing asses out the door every chance you got," I snapped as I hear the front door open and close.

"Good another teenage delinquent," he mutters as he gets up.

"No, not another teenage delinquent, you know my mom would kill me if I was that. Neptune High was closed due to bomb threats," Wallace smirks as he sits down where my dad was once sitting.

"Seriously," I ask as my dad places some already cooked bacon on the counter before he pulls out the pancake flour.

"Kids now a days," my dad says as he pours some batter in a hot skillet.

"Dad," I snap as he looks over at me. "Just because some kids act out doesn't mean that all kids do," I say as he shakes his head.

"Well sweetheart are all the kids having babies in high school," he counter questions me as I just give him a tight lipped smile.

"No, Meg and I are just very special," I say as he throws his hands up in the air in mock defeat.

"I need more of this father daughter conversation time," Wallace says as he laughs at our little disagreement. "It is so neat to watch you two have conversations, it's almost like a soap opera," he says as I just nudge him in the side.

"Why would you want more of them bickering?" Logan questions as he enters the kitchen in his boxers and a t-shirt.

"For some reason, it seems like the only normal activity in this house," he replies as Logan laughs at his response.

"Actually that does make sense," Dick says as he enters the room as well but with more than just his boxers on in his surfing shorts and no shirt.

"Dick why don't you go surfing or something and let the adults tak," I jutter as he gives me a smirk.

"I must say Ronnie I didn't figure you were one to share, but I found Meg in your bed when I was looking for Logan," he says giving me a toothy grin.

"I wouldn't make her mad, Dick" Logan says from next to me. I give him a smile as I pick up the cup of juice my dad had poured for me and walked over to where Dick was.

"Meg was having a bad morning, so Logan and I was helping a friend out since the rest of her friends were all till sleeping in their cozy beds," I say as I gab at his chest moving him toward the sliding door leading to the beach.

"I can't help it if I am a sound sleeper," Dick retorts as he has no idea what I am about to do to him.

"That may be so, but in this house if one of us is up due to a problem, we all need to be supportive of that person," I say as he is now fully out the door on the wood deck.

"I didn't know there was a problem, gosh Ronnie you are blowing this whole thing out of proportion," Dick whines as I turn around to see everyone looking at the two of us.

"No Dick I am making you aware of an issue. You have no right to joke about my relationship with Logan or make the remark you did about Meg," I say as I lift the cup in my hand and pour the juice over his head.

"Veronica," my dad was still saying as I felt two arms wrap around me as I was being picked up.

"Dick put me down," I snap as he laughs.

"Dick put her down," Logan says as he has finally decided to join us on the deck.

"I will," Dick says as he moves us toward the pool.

"Dick you better…." But my words were drowned out as he tossed me into the pool.

"You better run," Logan is yelling as he reaches for my hand, but I decide to pull him in. "Veronica," he sputters out as he pops his head out of the water.

"Darling," I say as I wrap my arms around his neck.

"Yeah, you being all nice isn't going to help the fact that you pulled me into the pool," he says as he gives me a kiss on the forehead.

"Yet, here you are," I joke as he smiles. It wasn't long before Wallace, Meg and even Dick join us in the pool splashing around like it was a normal event.

***LoVe***

"Are you still upset about the pool incident?" Logan asks as we are cuddling in the lounge chair looking out toward the beach where Dick was currently bothering Wallace as he was flying his plane.

"No," I say honestly as he rubs my small baby bump. It was weird sometimes for him to do that, but at the same time it made me feel safe in his arms.

"I wish that life would always give us good times," he whispers into my ear as he pulls me closer to his body.

"You've been distant since you got that phone call earlier today," I say as I turn in his arms to look up at him.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice about that," he mutters darkly.

"Why?" I ask as he looks past me taking his arms from around me and moving over in the chair.

"Veronica," he says sternly as I sit back next to him.

"Logan, we are in this relationship together, there is no Veronica or Logan because we are one," I snap as I go to get up agitated that he was willing to hide something from me. I am standing up moving around the chair when his hand grabs my wrist.

"Don't go," he mutters as I turn to look at him.

"I don't want to, but whatever it is can't stay hidden," I say as he pulls me.

"It was Cliff, Aaron wants to see me. He is saying that our marriage wasn't legal and is having his lawyers trying to find any loophole they can to get our marriage annulled," Logan says as I sit back down filling like the air got knocked out of me.

"But… how can he?" I finally say as I see the distant look still in his eyes.

"I don't know. Cliff says he hasn't been informed totally about the baby, but it's only time before he gets that news. I'm sorry for dragging you into this," he says as I feel angry that he would think this was his fault.

"Hey, there are no pity parties in this family. You did nothing wrong. This has Aaron written all over it. He isn't ready to give you a chance at life. He just wants to drag you down with him, but he can't because you have me and our family. Cliff will sort all this out for you," I say as I lean over placing my hands on both sides of his face forcing him to look at me.

"Thank you," he whispers as my lips brush his.

"I think that is what wife's are supposed to do. They are to give advice and support their husbands," I joke as he laughs.

"Where did you hear that from?" he says as he kisses me softly on the lips.

"I saw it on a news report. Logan we both had mom's who didn't act like they should have, but we are not our parents. I am not my mom, nor are you yours or Aaron. We make our own story," I say as he pulls me back to him.

"I like that," he replies as I try to relax again, but the weight of what he told me is weighing down on my soul. It bothered me that Aaron was pulling this kind of stuff to get to Logan. Logan had such a hard time as it was, and this was just a blow to his self-worth. I wasn't going to let Aaron hurt Logan anymore. I needed to come up with a plane to keep him away from Logan and our family.


End file.
